Midnight Bridge:Naruto:
by PurpleLicious64
Summary: Sakura and Tenten,two humans were born in a strange world of Nymphs and Kewolens.What happens when they meet on a bridge that appears at night time?Can they fall in love with their men?How do they get home? SakuXSasu TenXNeji.SemiOOC.Weekly Updates!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Sakura Pov

Tsunade made her way through the snow storm as quick as she could. She had to get out of there soon, or she would freeze and get hypothermia or die, in any case, she had to hurry. She pulled the blanket tighter on her body and pulled her hood forward more, in an attempt to keep her body heat. She suddenly heard a faint crying in the near distance, making her stop for a few seconds as it suddenly went away the same time she stopped. She shook her head a couple times and began running again, hearing the same crying from the same area. She paused again as the crying went on, coming from the west side. She quickly ran to it, her black hair blowing in the wind as she ran in the direction the soft crying came from.  
She saw a large tree in front of her path, definitely where the noise was coming from. She ran faster to get to it, as the soft crying suddenly turned into wailing from a baby. She looked under the roots of a tree, where a small light blue bundle was making a noise that you would have to be deaf not to hear. She quickly pulled it out, huddling it close to her body. She tightened the cloth around herself, then the baby's own light blue blanket, trying to keep the heat in for both of them. She ran back to the castle, where the Kewolens lived, quickly bringing her inside where there was warmth.

"Tsunade! Where have you been? We've been waiting for you forever!" Shizune yelled, running to give her a hug, but suddenly stopped, staring at the light blue bundle.

"What the hell is _that_ doing here!?" Shizune suddenly shrieked, getting the attention of everyone around them.

"Shut up and come" Tsunade put her finger on her friends lips, dragging her into her bedroom.

They eventually got to the room, as she closed and locked the door, keeping everyone who was following them out.

"I think it's a human baby, not a nymph baby" She replied calmly, unwrapping the now silent baby from it's cold blue blanket, giving it a soft-colored purple one instead.

"But, what the hell?" She asked, poking it's nose

"Stop that!" Tsunade hit her friends hand. "I'm not sure how it got here. But I wasn't going to leave her in the cold alone"

"Dammit Tsunade, you know what everyone is saying about you and your research about humans. This will only add more rumors" she looked at her friend worriedly. "How do you know it's not a nymph?" She asked, her worried stare going to a glare

"Look at it's ears and face color" She replied changing her clothes to one that weren't frozen.

Tsunade looked at the babies ears and face with Shizune, some what stuck in an awe.

"See? Nymph bodies can't change color to blue and they have the same ears as we do, not rounded ones." Tsunade touched the baby's ears with her finger.

Nymphs have creamy white skin, unlike the Kewolens, who have pure pale and usually have the darker hair colors.

"Okay, fine. It's not a Nymph. But how are we supposed to keep her away from everyone?" Shizune humpfed, crossing her arms and turning away from the baby. Tsunade rolled her eyes.

"Look, if you help me take care of her, you can name her" She offered her friend. Shizune looked back at the baby, then at her friend.

"Well.. I can't let you handle this on your own.."Shizune smiled as Tsunade smiled back.

"Thank you so much" Tsunade pulled her friend into a hug

"So what do you want to name her?" Tsunade asked letting go of the hug

"Let's see.. Do you mind if I name her after my sister?" Shizune asked looked down at the baby. Tsunade shook her head and smiled

"Okay. Sakura it is."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Sakura Pov

I inhaled and exhaled as I lay on the grass alone. I hate this place, it's like a hell hole for me. My teammates, Karin and Sasuke are both annoying and I get the hint that they despise me. All the other girls who I live with push me around like I'm a rock, and the boys... the boy's don't even bother to look at me. At least the sun shone for me today, unlike most days. I took my bracelet off and on, playing with it between my fingers. I'm not sure where I got it, though I know for sure I got it when I was very small. I put it on, this time leaving it on, closing my eyes. I felt so tense here. I just couldn't be me.

"SAKURA!" A voice yelled at me, making me jump.

"Yes Karin?" I replied rubbing my temples

"Hurry up! Dammit, your so slow!" She kicked my hand as she ran past me. I glared at her as I sat up rubbing my hand

"Your the one who was late" I mumbled. She suddenly stopped in her tracks, her long pointed ears twitching.

"What was that?!" She turned around looking at me infuriated.

"Your a beautiful stunning person with an amazing personality" I smiled as I falsely complimented her

"Damn straight." She turned back around and began walking towards the castle.

Karin flipped her red hair back at me as I rolled my eyes. She seriously was waaay too dramatic. I knew I was different than everyone ever since I learned to speak, which was about two or three. Kewloens have light pale skin and striking black eyes with pointed ears, and I have long pink hair with green eyes and beige skin. One could only wonder why I was an outcast. We eventually caught up with Sasuke who was already at the castle, as he just stared blankly at us. Sasuke was emotionless, or if he did have emotions, he certainly didn't enjoy showing them. But at least he didn't make fun of me like everyone else, he even sometimes spoke with me, which always made me feel that much better. We all sat on the grass in dead silence as a loud thumping echoed through the ground.

"Good job being here on time" The main castle guard spoke to us as we stood up, standing in a straight line in front of him

"Today, you will be on River duty. Make sure no nymphs come onto our half; and if they do, their all yours." He eyed all of us suspiciously, maybe to freak us out.

"Yes Sir!" We replied in unison as we ran into the castle to get our assigned weapons.

Karin had a huge double-sided axe, that honestly did not fit with her looks, but fit perfectly with her personality. Sasuke had a huge purple-blade scythe that was at least a head larger than him. He almost looked like the Grim Reaper; or he would if he wore a black cloak, which thankfully he didn't. Me, on the other had had a two bladed spear. One head was longer than the other one, which would add more damage as the second head went into the body. I inhaled as she stood it up next to me, looking up at it. It was at least nine feet tall, which was a good three heads taller than myself. But none the less, I could use it easily which was lucky.

"Sakura. Let's go" Sasuke spoke completely emotionless as I nodded once following behind him

We headed out to the river, which was maybe a hundred yards away from the village. The castle is where Royalty lives, me being the acceptation, that is. My mom, or adoptive mom is a close maid to the Princess, so it's thanks to her I'm alive at this point. She said that she found me under a tree root during the middle of a winter blizzard and she and Shizune, her best friend who is also a maid, took care of me. Apparently Shizune named my after her sister who died a few years before I came into this weird picture.  
We came to the river with the main castle guard close behind us, ready to give our rolls of where we would watch over.

"Karin. You take the southern part of the river, Sasuke you'll get the northern part, and you, Sakura, you get to watch over the center." His voice boomed as Karin had displeasure all over her face

"Why does _Sakura_ get the center? I'm sure it's too much of a job for her" she smirked at the castle guard glared at her

"Would you like to watch over the whole river then?" He shot back as she fell silent.

"I thought so. Now that you have been assigned, move out!" he called as we ran in the direction that we were assigned.

I didn't have to go anywhere far since the central area was just a bit north from where we were. I stood looking though the bushes across the river for any nymphs that may dare to attempt to cross over. I doubt I would actually kill them, but you never know. I saw a brown haired girl in the grass crying as I stared at her face in the distance, noticing a birthmark on her cheek. I stared as she looked back at me, causing me to freeze. She had the same crescent birthmark as I did, the same skin tone and even the same face shape as me. But it wasn't just that.

She had the same bracelet as me.

----

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	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Sakura Pov

We came closer to the castle as the sun set in the far horizon. There goes my beautiful sunshine. I sighed as I can't seem to get that girl out of my head. I kicked a rock a head of me, following after it then kicking it again. Her skin tone were exactly the same as mine, meaning she couldn't have been a Nymph since she had brown hair, and can't possibly be a Kewolen since her skin is beige. I toe-punched the small rock as hard as I could, sending it flying into the back of Sasuke's leg. I flinched as he spun around, almost death glaring at me.

"Sorry.." I mumbled as I ran past him, straight into the castle.

I put my spear all awkwardly agenst the wall of where it always rested, running to my room.

"That's right! You run!" I heard Karin yell as I accidentally let a loud sob out.

"Sakura! What's wrong?!" Tsunade asked worried as I ran into the room, slamming the door

"Nothing!" I yelled as I dove under my bed

It's sort of an awkward place to hide, since most girls would cry or scream into a pillow or a stuffy, but it's always been a safe and secure place for me. Tsunade came into my room, folding up the edges of my covers so she could see my face.

"I know there's something wrong when you go under your bed" she spoke as she looked at me

"..Why am I so different?" I mumbled as I kicked my foot on the bed, mentally cursing

"Because your special" Tsunade spoke stroking the top of my head

"If I'm so _special_, why does everyone seem to hate me?" I rolled on my back staring at the base of my bed, reading all the things I wrote when I was little

"Because they _know_ your special and are jealous of that" She spoke calmly, probably grinning.

"Then why am I here?" I asked tracing a word I dug into the wood

"Because you deserved a life to live too." Tsunade spoke softly

"Doubt it. I mean my own teammates hate me" I closed one eye as I remembered I should apologize properly to Sasuke.

"Don't be silly. They always talk about you" I looked at Tsunade surprised as I rolled back onto my stomach

"Bad things, right?" I rolled my eyes as I imagined Karin spreading some weird rumor about me

"No, just before they spoke what a good job you did on cleaning the castle"

"Yeah, because I lost a dumb dare" I closed my eyes, almost laughing at the thought

"That is beside the point, hun. Now come out from there, your dust bunny friend's won't miss you that much" Tsunade spoke as she pushed herself up from the ground.

I climbed out, waving to the bottom of my bed with a frown, mocking my adoptive mother. She just smiled, hugging me as I smiled and hugged back. I sat on my bed, as she sat next to me with a smiling face. Some how, Tsunade can always make me feel so much better.

"How has Shizune been?" I asked as we went to the main dining hall

"Apparently really busy with the Princess's errands" She had a weird grin on her face that showed it was more than just _that_.

"Don't tell anyone, but I heard she's been spotted with Kakashi" She whispered in my hear as I looked at her in shock.

Kakashi was the Princess's main body guard; he was tall and very skinny, but he was an excellent body guard and sword fighter, one of the best in the lands.

"No way!" I yelled with a smile plastered on my face, getting a bunch of nasty stares by the girls in the room.

"I knew she's been checking him out!" I lowered my voice as we ordered our food. At least the chefs were nice to me.

"I know! But don't tell anyone" she winked at me as she went to sit at her assigned table, where all the main maids sat with her food.

I walked out side of the dining hall to sit outside. It was a little chiller at night time outdoors, but it isn't too bad at this time. It's not like I could sit anywhere else anyway. I began munching on the meat they served me, trying to gnaw through it.

"I would watch what your eating" a voice spoke behind me

I turned around to see Sasuke standing above me

"Eh?" I asked, still gnawing though the meat, giving him a wide-eyed look

"That's bison hide" he spoke emotionless as I immediately dropped it out of my mouth, coughing a couple times, my eyes still wide

"Ew" I stuck my tongue out, attempting to get the taste out of my mouth. I thought it tasted a bit... weird.

"Well, I'm not going to eat for the next little while, then" I dumped my 'food' into the garbage, taking a few breaths.

"Thanks for telling me, and I was actually about to look for you after I ate my... _food_." I glanced at the garbage, slightly glaring at it

"Oh." he spoke with his hands at his side as his eyes darted to something past me, but then back to my eyes. I slightly frowned to what he could be looking at, almost knowing what.. or who it was.

"Yeah, I wanted to apologize for hitting you with the rock earlier" I spoke looking directly into his yellow eyes trying to see the faces of who were behind us. He took a step closer, my face going slightly pink as I shot my eyes to the ground

"Look everyone! Sakura has a thing for Sasuke!" Karin suddenly yelled to all the girls as my eyes went wide as my head flipped up to look at Sasuke, my face going tomato red. My anger suddenly bubbled to the surface as everything she's done to me came flashing back, making me feel _very_ pissed.

"SHUT UP YOU" I pointed to her as I walked over to her, infuriated.

"YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO SAY THAT" I yelled as I slapped her face, running back to the river where I saw that girl.

I swear I could hear the girls freaking out. It's not like one slap was going to kill her, or anyone for that matter. I rolled my eyes as I could now hear them all yelling at me. I came to a stop as I was now a good ways into the forest and close to the river. I took a deep breath, sitting on my feet, hugging myself. What the hell had I just done? I heard a rustling in the trees above me as I looked up at them to see absolutely nothing. I hit my head once

"Now Sakura, don't go insane on yourself" I mumbled as I kept walking to the river to see if the girl was there.

I walked to the river, seeing a bridge that connected our side with the side the Nymphs lived on, which definitely was not there this afternoon. But that wasn't what froze me. The girl I saw earlier that day was standing on it, now looking straight at me. I walked towards her, not moving my eyes from hers. It was almost as if we knew each other, although I'm positive seeing her today was the first time.

"Hello.." She spoke, her voice ringing in the air

"Hi" I brought my hand up, my fingers sticking up in a motion-less wave as I now stood next to her on the bridge

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	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Sakura Pov

"Hello.." She spoke, her voice ringing in the air

"Hi" I brought my hand up, my fingers sticking up in a motion-less wave as I now stood next to her on the bridge

We stared at each other, almost analyzing one another for what felt like ten minutes. Her two buns on her head made her look rather adorable, but I couldn't keep my eyes off the birthmark that we shared. It was just so.. weird that we both had one.

"Your not a Nymph. Are you?" I asked looking at her ears, almost scared she was going to say yes.

"Nope. And your surely not a Kewolen." She spoke as I felt relieved.

"No." I replied taking in a breath.

"I'm Sakura.. Pleasure to meet you" I held out my hand

"Tenten" She spoke as she shook it once.

"If your not a Nymph, what are you?" I asked almost rolling my eyes at the dumb question

"I'm pretty sure I'm a human. Not too sure though. How about you?" She asked back

"Same here." I nodded once in agreement

"What happend back there?" She suddenly asked, probably referring to the Karin incident.

"You mean the yelling? I just had a small fight with a girl" I almost let out a laugh at the thought. I was so screwed.

"Oh" She replied

"How is it living with the Nymphs?"

"It's awesome.. Their all really nice and they try to include me" She smiled as if she was lost in a memory

"..Lucky" I let out a sigh as I leaned on the bridge railing facing the rushing water

"How is it living over there?"

"It's like a living hell" I kicked the bridge railing that sat lower down

"Everyone makes fun of me and the only friends I have are the dust bunnies under my bed" I let out a small laugh thinking of Tsunade

"That sucks" She patted my back twice

"Haha thanks, but I've gone sixteen years with it, so it's not too bad anymore" I began picking off the paint from the bridge. How old was this thing?

"By the way, when I saw you this morning, there was no bridge here. Got any idea what happend?" I asked looking at her facial features again. She looked so much like I did, besides our face structure and hair style and color

"I heard my family.. adoptive family talk about a bridge that only comes out at night time and I'm assuming this is it" She also began picking off the red paint

"Oh, that's pretty cool that we found it" We nodded in sync, as we both gave out a laugh

"This is sort of... out there, but why do have the same birthmark as me?" I looked back at her as she opened her mouth

"I was about to ask you the same question" We paused for a second

"Yeah I have no idea" We spoke in sync, laughing again.

"So, where do you think we came from, then?" Tenten asked as I leaned back on my arms, looking at our rippled reflections in the running water

"I'm not sure.. Maybe like a parallel universe, sort of thing" I replied as there was a rustling in the trees again.

We both looked up at where it came from, but seeing no one once again. What the heck was going on?

"I was thinking something like that also. It's just plain weird that we're different than everyone else.." She spoke as I nodded in agreement

"It's getting on my nerves. I'm as pale as Nymphs, no offense intended, when I'm next to them Kewolens." I shook my head.

"Do you live in the village or the castle?"

"I live in the castle, I haven't been down to the village before" I paused. I knew exactly what I was going to do tomorrow.

"That must be awesome" she complimented

"Thank you, but not really. The girls are really mean and enjoy being in cliques." I rolled my eyes thinking of Karin

"How about you?" I asked looking at her

"I live in the village" She looked down at the water

"How is that?"

"It's quiet, although I think it would be wonderful to live in the castle with the Princess.. and the Prince.." her voice trailed off as her face turned red

"Ooo does someone have a crush on the Nymph Prince?" I teased her giving her a wink

"N-no!" She stuttered, giving herself away

"Got cha! You so do" I stuck my tongue at her with a smile

"Shush! You can't tell anyone!" She eyed me carefully

"Haha don't worry. I won't tell a soul" I replied with a small laugh

"Now you have to tell me someone you like" She gave her own evil little smile as my face went a bit pink

"There's this guy on my watch-team, and he's.. really cute" I could feel my face get hotter with each passing second

"Aw, that's cute" she giggled

"Yeah.. but he has no emotions, just a straight face all the time." I sighed

"Well you know how boys are. Acting all tough and what not"

"Yeah, though he's nice. He's the only Kewolen my age who talks to me" I smiled at the thought. It somehow made me feel a lot better.

She suddenly stuck out her pinkie. I stuck mine out as they hooked each other, breaking apart the next second.

"No telling anyone" we spoke in sync with a right eye wink.

"Do you want to meet again tomorrow, same spot?" I asked looking down at the bridge as she nodded eagerly

"Sakura." a soft feminine voice spoke behind me as I froze on the spot

"Princess.." I turned around giving a small curtsy with my short shorts

I was dead meat.

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	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Tenten Pov

Mace ran as fast as he could through the snow storm. The wind was howling like a giant wolf and the snow and frost were burning his usual pale face. His blond hair hid under his hood and his beard had icicles forming. He couldn't wait to get back home to his warm house. As he came closer to the closely packed homes he heard a little cry off in the distance. He didn't know if his strong ears were starting to play tricks on him or if what he heard was just coming from someplace far off and the wind had carried it down. Either way he decided to go and check the noise, but only for a while.  
He went off to where it sounded like it was coming from the east. He walked for what seemed like almost forever, maybe less, but he found the source of the sound. The sound came from behind a dense brush, and the crying was too loud to be thought of as a mind trick. Mace pulled away as much of the brush as he could until he finally found a little baby wrapped up in a dark blue blanket. He picked up the child without a second thought and ran back to the Nymph Village.  
Mace soon came to his own house and quickly opened the door with his free hand. The two other children he had stopped playing their game and looked over at their father. Soon his wife Abilene came down the stairs to yell at him for being out so late again.

"What stalled you this time? Some women in need of assistance?" she asked as she looked over to him.

Not even her sons laughed at that statement like they usually would. They were to busy staring at the baby their father had brought home. When Abilene finally saw the bundle in his arms her eyes widened.

"Is that yours?" she muttered.

Mace shook his head quickly. His wife always assumed the worst if he came home so late. He was one of the best looking Nymphs around, but he loved his wife more then anything, even though sometimes she was hard to handle. But they've been together for almost twenty years and have married young. He wouldn't change anything about it. Abilene came up and took the child from him, then went over and sat near the fire. The baby looked up at her with wonder. She then checked the baby over to make sure it was healthy and well. The boys just sat on the floor, waiting to hear what she had to say.

"Other then the fact her skin is blue from the cold and her ears are a different shape then ours she seems fine."

The eldest boy, Shikamaru, stood up quickly.

"Is it one of the Kewolens?!" he almost screamed.

Mace hit his son over the head.

"No you idiot. Kewolens don't turn blue when they get cold!" he said.

"Boy please. You'll wake her up!" said Abilene.

They went silent. So the baby was a girl. Mace and the two young boys gathered round to have a closer look at the child. The ears were an odd shape, but not like the Kewolens. They were like the ears of Nymphs and elves, but they were rounded instead of pointed. Abilene looked up at her husband.

"Can we keep her?"

Mace looked back at her, not sure how to answer. They didn't know where this child came from or even what it was! Shikamaru looked up at his father.

"Don't things with those kinds' of ears come from another world? Where there are creatures called humans? We learned a little bit about it in that storytelling camp you and mom made us take." he said.

The younger son, Naruto, nodded his head at the memory. Mace let out a breath, and told the boys to go to bed. They did as they were told and headed upstairs to their rooms. He looked back over at his wife.

"I wouldn't mind having her... it's just... the king might not accept it. We don't know much about humans-"

"We know enough. They're a lot like us. They need food, sleep and love. It's like having a dog except it's more like adoption of a baby! Mace please we can try... remember?" He looked down at her once more. "We always did want a girl; if not forever we can take care of her until we need to. Please you were one of the king's good friends when you were younger!"

He thought for a moment then sighed.

"I'll talk to him first thing in the morning." he decided.

Abilene smiled and kissed her husbands cheek. The baby started to move around in Abilene's arms. She rocked the baby back and forth, singing a lullaby that she used to sing to her own children, until she finally closed her eyes and fell asleep.

"What should we name her?" whispered Abilene.

Mace smiled as he knew the perfect name.

"After my grandmother. We'll name her Tenten."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Tenten pov

They were late again. Ino must be holding Hinata back with something as always. I know I'm not early this time. I played with the bracelet around my wrist. I always ended up playing with it while I was waiting for them. I'm not sure what it's made of, I just know I've had it since I was very young. It fits my wrist perfectly. I sighed and lay down on the soft grass. I felt so relaxed.

"Hey sleepy head!" I heard someone call.

I looked over to see Ino and Hinata coming over a hill. Ino was the first to get to me, since Hinata wasn't use to running so much. She really was a princess in more ways then one, but at least she didn't act like a snob.

"We really need to get you into shape Hinata! Or maybe you should take that tiara off cause it could be weighting you down! Don't you think so Tenten?" teased Ino.

"Leave me out of this!" I said.

She flipped her long blonde hair and winked at the both of us, showing she was only teasing. I looked over at Hinata, who was repeating the gesture with her blue-black hair that was in a pony tail. I knew I was different from the other Nymphs since I was about five. I have beige skin and more rounded ears, everybody else has creamy skin and pointed ears. I was more or less a black dot in the center of a white sheet of paper. I was only friends with Hinata, Ino and Neji, Hinata's brother. I blushed as I thought of him with his hair flowing in the wind.

"Earth to Tenten!" I heard Hinata say.

"What? Oh, sorry." I muttered.

"Well are we going to the flower patch or not?" yelled Ino.

"Yes yes!" both Hinata and I yelled back.

x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x

"Then she was boasting about how her and James were going to get married next year! Don't you think they're a little to young?" she asked.

"Well, most people get married between eighteen or twenty. Besides, they've been in love since they first laid eyes on each other." said Hinata.

We had stopped making our flower crowns. Ino always says how Hinata should just wear one of the flower tiara's that we make. But by tradition she has to wear a tiara, being a princess of the Nymphs. Neji, on the other hand usually has to wear a crown and if not that he has to carry a sword with him wherever he goes. Tradition. That's all we were about.... or at least all the Nymphs. I'm not really a Nymph.... I'm not exactly sure what I am or if there are any others of me.... why did my parents abandon me? I'm probably never going to find these answers. I sighed.

"Wanna know a rumor I heard about Neji?" asked Ino.

My head jolted away from the flower crown I was making to Ino's face. She knew almost everything because she was the most outgoing, pretty Nymph in history. Well that's what most say.

"What?" asked Hinata

She didn't like people making rumors about her brother, unless they were true. She knew her brother like the back of her hand. They were very close. Ino smiled at us.

"They say he's got his eye out for our little Tenten here." she finally said.

I felt my face go red. No way!

"How silly! Hinata, tell her how silly she's being!" I said.

Hinata stayed silent. I gulped.

"Not you too!"

"Well, he does stare at you and he sometimes has a pink hue like you usually do when you talk to him... it wouldn't surprise me."

I was so shocked that I felt like I couldn't breath almost. I felt tears come from my eyes. I did want it to be true... but... but.... but.... I stood up and ran. I ran even though I realized that I was in an area that I didn't know. I sighed and whipped my tears away.  
I really was in an area that mother didn't show me before. I saw a huge drop off, and at the bottom was flowing water. A river. I was confused. Since when did we have a river so close? How far had I ran?! I looked back to where I came from, I was still able to see the village. At least I wasn't lost. I sighed and turned my head to look at the other side of the canyon river... thing. My eyes went wide. There was a girl on the other side, with the same skin, the same face shape as me; she even had the same crescent moon birthmark as me. But it wasn't just that.

She had the same bracelet as me.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Tenten Pov

As the sun started to set I quietly went back to the village hut. Rose and Annie caught up with me sooner or later, I'm not sure exactly how long I was standing there. Either way, as soon as the other girl heard them she ran back into the forest. I didn't tell them about it, I had a feeling they would either not understand or be furious with me. We weren't suppose to be there anyways. I sighed and looked up at the castle.

_'I wonder if he's looking back at me?'_

I blushed at the thought and turned to go inside.

"You're late." my... brother Shikamaru said.

"I'm sorry. I must have walked to slow or something..."

He just shrugged. Shika was a good brother, but ever since Mace had gone off to search for new medicine and for Abilene, he's been stressed and tired. I saw he was cleaning the dishes and I walked over and touched his shoulder.

"Let me take care of this! You need rest go on!" I said, forcing myself to smile.

Shika yawned and ruffled my hair. He then turned around and headed off to bed. I continued where he left off. I was almost done when I heard the door creak open. I looked over to see it was Naruto.

"Where were you?" I asked.

Naruto shrugged.

"Around. I had to work late and then get some things from Renee."

Renee was Naruto's girlfriend, or maybe fiance... I'm not sure anymore. Although I feel bad because I know Hinata also had a crush on him. I'll have to set them up sometime.. I let out a small laugh as I went back to washing the dishes. I heard him close his door. Then I looked over and saw that Shikamaru hadn't given Abilene's medicine to her. I quickly finished the last plate and took the medicine, bolting it to her room. I knocked to make sure she was awake.... and still breathing.

"Come in." I heard her croak.

I gulped and came into the room. Shikamaru and Naruto had to cover their nose and mouth with a cloth, but I was immune to the disease as long as I didn't come in contact with her germs. I placed the medicine in her drink as she tried talking to me.

"How was your day my dear?"

"Normal. I just went and made flower crowns with Ino and Hinata." I told her.

"Anything else?"

"... well.... is it possible that there are more humans that live around here?" I asked.

"Depends where they are." she replied

I didn't really understand what she meant by that... but alright. I continued to mix all the medicines until she spoke again.

"You remember the story we told you about the Kewolens right?" she asked.

I nodded. The Kewolens had apparently murdered the one of the Nymph kings daughter back in that time. There was a battle where neither of them were really winning, but finally someone did something. The Earth God decided the two battling races had to be stopped, so he got the Kewolens on one side and the Nymphs on the other. Abilene was only a little girl at the time, but she said it was like it all happened yesterday.

"I remember it as if you told me yesterday."

She laughed a little, but it turned into coughing. When it died down she took a few breaths.

"There is a bridge that joins the two at night. Not many people are out there that late. I haven't even seen it but... I'm afraid that it will be found. Nobody know why the Earth God put the magic bridge there-"

"Shh. It's alright." I gave her the medicine and she drank it all.

Soon she was knocked out. I sighed. I didn't know she was so sick to make up magic bridges! Could this mean that she was getting worse?... I didn't want to know.  
I went to go to my room, but something caught my eye outside. I looked through the small window we had at the end of the hallway. My eyes widened. It was Neji! He was walking towards the river thing.... what on earth? I quickly and quietly got to the front door and put my shoes on. As I quietly closed the door I looked out to where he was heading, thankfully he was still visible. I ran as fast as I could, hoping he wouldn't hear me. I ducked behind a rock as he stopped. I took a few breaths to collect myself. I tried to figure out how to explain myself and my snooping. I looked over the rock only to see that he was no longer there.  
I ran up to the spot he was. Where'd he go?! I was left alone and everything looked so... different at night. I shivered as a chill passed through me.  
Then I froze as I realized I had walked forward. I looked down and saw that I was on the bridge... so Abilene wasn't crazy! Then I looked up to only be frozen yet again. It was that girl who had the same hair skin and birthmark as me! The other human... she started walking towards me, and we didn't break eye contact at all. I don't know why, but I felt like I've known her from somewhere before... somewhere else?

"Hello.." I said, knowing that I had better start this conversation.

"Hi" she said and brought her hand up, her fingers sticking up in a motion-less wave as she now stood next to me on the magic bridge.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Tenten Pov

"Hello.." I said, knowing that I had better start this conversation.

"Hi" she said and brought her hand up, her fingers sticking up in a motion-less wave as she now stood next to me on the magic bridge

We stared at each other, almost analyzing one another for what felt like ten minutes.

"Your not a Nymph. Are you?" she asked looking at my ears, I wanted to laugh at her, but I didn't.

"Nope. And your surely not a Kewolen." I said, noting her skin, ears and birthmark all over again..

"No." She took a breath and held out her hand. "I'm Sakura.. Pleasure to meet you"

"Tenten" I said as I shook it once.

"If your not a Nymph, what are you?" she asked.

"I'm pretty sure I'm a human. Not too sure though. How about you?" I asked back

"Same here." she quickly nodded once in agreement

"What happend back there?" I asked, referring to some screaming I had heard. I only thought it was the wind since it was being carried away.

"You mean the yelling? I just had a small fight with a girl" She said nervously.

"Oh"

"How is it living with the Nymphs?" Sakura asked me.

"It's awesome.. Their all really nice and they try to include me" I smiled at a memory of how as soon as Ino, Hinata and Neji accepted me it seemed like everyone liked me more. They always liked me but they just thought it was odd since I was so... different.

"..Lucky" she said letting out a sigh as she leaned on the bridge railing facing the rushing water

"How is it living over there?" I asked, having the conversation continue.

"It's like a living hell" she said and kicked the bridge railing that sat lower down "Everyone makes fun of me and the only friends I have are the dust bunnies under my bed" She laughed at that.

I hoped she was kidding, cause that was the most horrible thing for anybody. I walked up next to her.

"That sucks" I said and patted her back twice

"Haha thanks, but I've gone sixteen years with it, so it's not too bad anymore" She said as she picked off some paint on the bridge. Was it really that old as Abilene was saying?

"By the way, when I saw you this morning, there was no bridge here. Got any idea what happend?" She asked looking at me again. I looked back. She looked so much like I did, besides our face structure and hair style

"I heard my family.. adoptive family talk about a bridge that only comes out at night time and I'm assuming this is it" I also started picking off the red paint

"Oh, that's pretty cool that we found it" We nodded in sync, as we both gave out a laugh

I decided I should just go ahead and ask her what was on my mind. But she interrupted me just as I opened my mouth.

"This is sort of... out there, but why do you have the same birth mark as me?" she asked as she looked up at me.

"I was about to ask you the same question" We paused for a second

"Yeah I have no idea" We spoke in sync, laughing again.

"Some weird coincidence, I guess." I giggled

"So, where do you think we came from?" I asked her as she leaned back on her arms, looking at our rippled reflections in the running water

"I'm not sure.. Maybe like a parallel universe, sort of thing" she replied.

I wanted to say that was crazy, but it made the most sense at the moment. Suddenly we heard a rustle over in the bushes and trees. We both looked up at where it came from, but seeing no one once again. What the heck was going on?

"I was thinking something like that also. It's just plain weird that we're different than everyone else.." I said as Sakura nodded in agreement

"It's getting on my nerves. I'm as pale as Nymphs, no offense intended, when I'm next to them Kewolens." she said and shook her head.

"Do you live in the village or the castle?" I asked, trying to avoid anything saddening.

"I live in the castle, I haven't been down to the village before" She paused.

"That must be awesome" I said, knowing how I always wanted to live in the castle.

"Thank you, but not really. The girls are really mean and enjoy being in cliques." She rolled her eyes, probably having someone in mind.

"How about you?" she asked looking back at me.

"I live in the village" I answered and looked down at the water

"How is that?"

"It's quiet, although I think it would be wonderful to live in the castle with the Princess.. and the Prince.." my voice trailed off and I felt my face go warm.

"Ooo does someone have a crush on the Nymph Prince?" Sakura teased, then gave me a wink

"N-no!" I stuttered, but it didn't matter, it was obvious.

"Got cha! You so do" She stuck her tongue at me with a smile

"Shush! You can't tell anyone!" I said, panicked, and eyed her carefully

"Haha don't worry. I won't tell a soul" She replied with a small laugh

"Now you have to tell me someone you like" I gave my own evil little smile as her face went a bit pink

"There's this guy on my watch-team, and he's.. really cute" Her face was going redder and redder with each word.

"Aw, that's cute" I giggled

"Yeah.. but he has no emotions, just a straight face all the time." she sighed

Poor girl. Must have felt like she had no chance... like me.

"Well you know how boys are. Acting all tough and what not"

"Yeah, though he's nice. He's the only Kewolen my age who talks to me" She smiled looking lost in thought. I smiled too.

I then stuck out my pinkie. She stuck hers out as they hooked each other, breaking apart the next second.

"No telling anyone" we spoke in sync with a right eye wink.

"Do you want to meet again tomorrow, same spot?" She asked looking down at the magic bridge.

I nodded eagerly. This was the one person I could relate to! I wanted to have a friend like that.

"Sakura." a soft feminine voice spoke behind Sakura and she froze on the spot

"Princess.." She turned around giving a small curtsy with her short shorts

I gulped at the small purple skinned child. This was their Princess?

Were we in trouble?


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Sakura Pov

I stared at the Kewolen Princess in shock. This was my first time seeing her on her own, without Kevin or any other soldiers that protected her. She seems a lot.. smaller on her own. Her two little black cats that I had never noticed before blended in with her dark clothing which gave her a childish look, yet she still looked like Royalty.

"Come on Sakura, it's late. Tsunade is worried about you. Let's go home." the Princess spoke, dragging me off. I swear this is the first time I've ever been dragged by a girl at least ten years younger than me.

We walked a couple steps as I glanced back at Tenten, although her body was now covered by the dark trees. I sighed as the Princess let go of me but still ignored me as we walked back to the castle. I took in a breath as it came into view, ready to face Karin and clique of girls from what I did earlier that night.

"Sakura!" Karin yelled as she walked up to me.. right where the Princess _was_ standing.

"I guess this is her form of punishment.." I mumbled to myself as I looked at Karin in the eye

"What do you have to say for yourself?!" she yelled into my ear, a roar of girls coming from behind her

"I'm sorry for slapping you" I mumbled looking at the ground

"Sorry, what was that?!" she yelled, turning her large ear towards me. Like hell she didn't hear me. I inhaled a deep breath

"I'M SORRY FOR SLAPPING YOU!" I yelled into her ear, running to the castle and into my room, slamming the door before anyone could follow me.

"Sakura! Where were you!" Tsunade called as I dove under my bed again, hiding

"I was... walking around" I mumbled, full knowing she could her me

"You missed curfew, and you got into a fight with Karin!" She spoke loudly, sitting on top of the bed

"I must have lost track of time and she's the one who was making false rumors about me" I played with the ends of my hair, curling it around my finger

"That does not matter; you know how the Princess is with curfew, and you should know better than to hit!" Tsunade spoke again, mothering me.

"I'm sorry.." I apologized not wanting to fight.

"Your forgiven. Just try not to be late next time" she mumbled as she got off the bed heading outside, closing my door.

I sighed as I got out from under, going towards my window, leaning slightly out of it. Tonight could not be any worse than it is already. I took a deep breath of the cold air, trying to ignore the still-loud yells of the girls. I rolled my eyes. Were they still obsessing over the slap? I looked down at the mossy ground, seeing Sasuke look straight back at me. I felt my face get hot as I waved down to him. I quickly glanced around the stone wall to see if there were any other windows... which their wasn't. I paused for a few seconds, why was he standing below my window... looking at me? He slightly waved back, his face still as emotionless as ever. I gave him a smile. At least I knew he wasn't mad at me in anyway shape or form. I took a step back from the window, heading to my bed to lie down.

I couldn't fall asleep until the sun had shone through my window.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Sakura Pov  
I woke up, feeling the hard cold ground. I sat up, rubbing my head trying to get rid of the throbbing. How did I fall onto the ground? I pushed myself up off the ground, dusting off my pajamas. I sighed. I had to work with Karin today didn't I? I scrunched my face, attempting to wake my face up. I walked over to the mirror, almost staring in shock of my reflection; I had dark bags under my eyes. I hit my forehead with my palm. This is what I get for getting three hours of sleep.

"Tsunade.." I mumbled, going into her room

"Yes, Sakura?" She asked getting ready for her job as the Princess's maid

"... Do you have anything for my eyes?" I asked as Tsunade turned around in shock

"Your eyes?" she asked, looking at the dark circles under my eyes

"No.. I've never seen this before" she continued, now rubbing them with her thumbs

"Okay, thanks anyway" I mumbled as I dragged myself back to my room.

"Damn human traits..." I mumbled as I got dressed, making my way outside.

Today would be an interesting day.

I walked out to the field again to relax. In the mornings, we have free time until the afternoon, when we have to patrol over the river. Every month or so the rotations change, so all of the watch-guards get to try watching over every station. The castle actually has a pretty big perimeter for its size, since most of the land is still trees and untouched grass lands. I took in a breath and thought of the village, and what it would be like to live in it. I was supposed to go down today, but I'm just too tired to do anything. I closed my eyes, the sun heating up my whole body, almost as if I was under a natural bed sheet. I closed my eyes, resting them so maybe the dark circles that sat there would vanish, leaving me with a normal looking face again.  
I suddenly felt a tap on my foot which I successfully ignored. The object tapped my boot again, my foot wiggling to shoo it away. The thing hit my foot again, obviously trying to wake me up.

"What?" I grunted as I opened my eyes

"We have work" Sasuke spoke.

It had been five hours already? And he was the one who woke me up from my slumber? I let out a grunt as I stood up, rubbing my eyes.

"Fine.. I'm coming" I lugged my way across the field, grunting with every step I took.

We made me way to the meeting point of where Sasuke, Karin and I met to go to work, which meant watch over the station we were assigned. I almost wanted to run towards it, to see Tenten again, since she was seriously the only one like me around here, but I stood still, facing away from my team members. I'm sure they've noticed my bags by now.

"Hey Sakura, nice rings" Karin laughed as I rolled my eyes

"Look, Karin. I'm not in the best mood; can you please cut it out for today?" I asked rubbing my temples with my eyes closed.

Karin went silent and Sasuke stayed silent. The main guard came towards us, his feet echoing through the forest with every step he took. He stopped in front of Sasuke, Karin and I going to either side of him to form a straight line.

"You will be watching over the river, the same spots as yesterday." He spoke, walking up and down as if we were in some sort of army.

"You may go and get your weapons" He spoke as we ran to the foyer of the castle and into another room, getting our specialized weapons again.

I grabbed my spear, running with the blades in the air to make sure not to stab anyone, standing in the same position I had been before I left. Sasuke and Karin returned a second later, each holding their weapon carefully. Karin had her double headed axe with the head to the ground at her side, as Sasuke and I rested the end of our weapons on the ground, the blades in the air.

"Okay. I'm sure you all know what to do. Move out!" he spoke as we began running off to the same positions as yesterday.

I ran along side Sasuke as we both had to go north. I stopped about half the way that he had to run, running directly into the forest by the bridge of where I hung out with Tenten. Hopefully she would be there again. I gave my eyes a rub to wake them up, as no one was on the other side; and just as I had suspected, the bridge was gone. I took a breath, kicking a rock into the water. I walked up and down the river, watching for any movement on the other side, which there wasn't. I heard Tsunade tell another maid that the Nymphs weren't even allowed to come near the river, it was so close to the Kewloens, meaning that was probably why Tenten wasn't here yet.

"Hey." Sasuke spoke

"Hi" I mumbled stretching out my arms

"Shouldn't you be higher up?" I asked looking at the height differences between us. He was at least one or two heads taller than I was, which somehow made me feel very short.

"No. There is a wider gap between the two sides up there." he gestured his head up the river

"Oh, I guess that makes sense." I spoke as he nodded once

"I'm fine here, you can go help Karin if you want, it's probably a lot narrower down there" I pointed down stream with the head of my spear

"It's fine. I'll be too far from my post if I go down there" he looked into my eyes as I nodded

"Yeah, I know. I have rings under my eyes." I put my hands over my eyes trying to massage them to wake them up

"You look tired" Sasuke bluntly stated

"Thanks for noticing. I only got maybe three hours of sleep last night"

"I see."

"Yep. I also wanted to apologize for yesterday, I randomly ran off in the middle of my apology. So I guess I'm apologizing for an apology" I let out a small laugh as I looked up at the sun.

"It's fine" he spoke, also looking up at the sky

It was beginning to set.  
I rubbed my eyes again, almost begging that they circles would leave my face alone, which probably didn't work at all. I let out a sigh. This was going to be a long shift.

"Do you know if any Nymphs have actually been caught on our side?" I asked looking at the details of my spear

"Not that I know of" He held his scythe in the air, almost looking for a Nymph to attack.

I hit my head once, exhaling a breath I was holding. Trying to converse with Sasuke was harder than attempting to cross the river that ran before me.

"Then what's the point of putting us here to watch over? I heard their peaceful" I mumbled as Sasuke just shrugged

"Oh hey. Do you know how old the Princess is?" I asked thinking about last night and how tiny but royal she looked

"Maybe five or six"

"Oh, I see. That's cool she's a Princess at that age" I mentally hit myself for being dragged around by a six year old.

"You sure you don't need to go back up?" I asked eyeing him carefully

"Yeah. I doubt they'll try to get over" He spoke as the sun lowered its self behind the distant mountains

My felt my face heat up at the thought of watching the sunset with Sasuke. It was truly a beautiful sunset; even if I couldn't sit down to enjoy it in a large meadow. I stared in awe at the sun and the different colors that they sky portrayed, almost as if it was shining bright colors to announce it was happy and in a good mood. I closed my eyes as the sun drifted away, taking its heat with it. I opened them again, smiling. I could see Tenten walking towards the bridge; or where it will be in a couple minutes, probably smiling as much as I was. I looked to my left, giving a worried glance to Sasuke, who was now missing... Or not next to me. Where did he go? I turned around in a circle to see where he ran off to, but only trees and open grassland surrounded me. Maybe he went back to his post, he might have heard something, I guess. I frowned but slightly shrugged, trying to ignore it. I looked behind me to make sure he was actually gone; he seriously had some good timing skills, but then back forward as the bridge was suddenly there, meaning the sun was now set.  
I waved to Tenten as I ran onto the bridge to the same spot that I was standing yesterday.

"Hi Tenten" I smiled

"Hello Sakura, beautiful circles" she smiled back, referring to my eyes

"Jee. Thanks. Same goes to you" I glared back as she laughed

"So how was your day?" I asked facing the river again. Good thing my shift had just finished as the sun had set.

"My day was sort of shitty" She looked down sadly at the ground

"Oh... I'm sorry... do you mind if I ask what happened?" I looked down at her

"I got into a fight with the Prince, and my friends got mad at me and just as Neji and I were making up my brother came in and hit me. It's kind of dark so you can't see it, but I have a big bruise." She chucked a rock into the river, making a "plop" noise as it landed.

"I'm sorry... That must of sucked" I patted her back a couple times

"No it's fine. I'll talk to them tomorrow about it" She said, wanting to avoid this topic.

"How about you?"

"Oh, mine was pretty good, compared to most days" I smiled thinking about my conversation with Sasuke

"What happened?" Tenten asked noticing my smile

"I told the girl who enjoys making fun of me off.. And I uh... Um.. Got to watch the... sun set with the guy on my team..." I stuttered, my face going red.

"Was that the guy who I saw you stand next to a bit ago?" She asked looking in that direction again

"Yeah.." I smiled looking at my tomato red face in the water reflection

"You two looked adorable" She smiled

"Thank you.. Though I doubt he likes me" I mumbled sticking my foot out of the side of the bridge

"You never know.." She spoke, looking at the direction of the castle, my eyes following her stare.

The figure walked towards our position, not too slowly, yet not too fast. Almost as if they were pacing each step they took, counting them. The figure stood next to me, his face as blank as ever.

"Tenten.. Meet Sasuke. Sasuke.. meet Tenten"


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Sakura Pov

I looked at Tenten's face with worry as Sasuke approached. Her face had a flash of different emotions, the main one that stuck out being fear. She took a big gulp as she took a step backwards as if Sasuke was about to kill her, running away.

"TENTEN" I yelled, almost running onto the Nymph side as Sasuke grabbed my arm pulling me back, causing me to fall onto my bum with a soft thump

"You shouldn't go over there" He spoke emotionless

"What the hell Sasuke!" I yelled standing up

"What?" He asked as if he was shocked

"You just scared her away!" I screamed looking at him

"It's not my fault she made a bad first impression on me" He stared back at me

"Yes it is! If you had not randomly shown up, we'd be just fine!" I stomped on the bridge

"I thought you were meeting with a Nymph" his sounded voice monotone

"Oh my god, why do you have to be so emotionless all the time!? Can't you at least _pretend_ to have some emotions?!" I yelled my eyes now watering up.

I grabbed my spear, running back to the castle, avoiding his answer. This evening could honestly not get any worse. I dropped my spear lazily into its rest, now the second day in a row. The main guard definitely won't be too pleased with me, and I'll never hear the end of it. I sighed running into my room, resting my arms on the windowsill. I hate it here. All I ever do is screw things up and not to mention _everyone_ hates me. I took in a shaky breath, letting out a sob, tears running down my face as I shook my head. What I would give to get out of here. My door slowly opened, revealing a worried Tsunade. She walked came up behind me, gripping me into a soft hug as I leaned my head into her shoulder, at least I knew there was one person out there who cared for me.

I sniffled a couple times, meaning most of my tears had come to a finish as a good ten minutes passed by. Tsunade pulled apart from the hug, looking at my now red and soppy face.

"What happened?" she asked wiping my cheeks

I shook my head saying I didn't want to talk about it.

"Please don't be afraid to talk to me once in a while" she stoked my head, already making me feel a lot better

"I got into a fight with someone and I don't think it ended well" I mumbled, almost bringing a whole new set of tears down my cheeks

"I'm sure it'll be fine. Just sleep on it tonight, and I'm sure it'll be better by tomorrow" She nodded once in understanding. How did she always know what to say to make me feel better?

"Kay.." I mumbled wiping my eyes

"Let's go get dinner, okay?" She asked leading me away from my room

"Yeah, I'll meet you down there in a sec" I mumbled, stumbling to my mirror as she walked out of the room.

At least my appearance looked some what decent. I quickly brushed down my hair with my fingers, patting my face a couple times with my hands to get red of the redness in my eyes. I walked out of my room, quickly catching up with Tsunade. She smiled at me as I smiled back to her, now entering the dining hall. I inhaled and exhaled as I thankfully didn't see Sasuke. He was the last person I wanted to talk to at this moment. I would rather try to converse with Karin than talk with him right now. We stood in line, getting tonight's meal, which hopefully was not something disgusting as yesterday.

"What's food tonight?" I whispered to Tsunade

"I believe it's only pasta" She gave me a weird look as I nodded back

"I'll be outside then" I spoke as I escorted myself outside onto the grass. It's not like anyone else would want me to sit with them anyway.

I munched on the pasta, eating it slowly. It felt like my stomach had shrunk three sizes than what it usually was. Shame, it was good pasta too. I heard thumping come from behind me as I turned around to see Karin and her little "Possy"

"What do you want Karin?" I asked bitterly

"What do you mean, what do I want? Sasuke told me to give this to you" She handed me a folded piece of paper that read "Sakura" on the top

I eyed her suspiciously, but she quickly walked away with her miniature gang, leaving me alone once again. I carefully unfolded it, almost scared of what will be imprinted on it.

_Sakura,_

_I'm sorry for what happened at the bridge._

_Please meet me by the large tree in the forest_

_-Sasuke._

Next to his written name, there was a small smudge mark that looked like the had been.. crying?


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Sakura Pov

I woke up, getting dressed immediately. What did Sasuke want to talk to me about? I prepped myself up, feeling a hell of a lot better than yesterday, heading down to the dining hall for breakfast.. Or brunch in this case. I took a cup of fruits and a fork to eat with; my stomach hadn't gotten much better since yesterday, though I could eat a little more. I sat down in the same spot on the grass as I did during dinner looking up at the sky and the clouds softly floating by as I made out shapes. A boat.. a cow.. a dragon.. a cat.. a heart. I felt my own heart thump loudly, my face going red. I had to meet Sasuke, didn't I? I finished off the fruits, almost having to force the last couple down my throat, chucking the plastic cup out with the fork. I took a breath as I made my way to the front of the castle, waiting for Karin and Sasuke to show up for watch duty.

"Sakura" A girl's voice called to me

"Princess" I instantly stood up, giving a curtsy with my shorts once again

"No need for formalities" She spoke, her voice sounding like a child but with power like a queen

"What would you like?" I asked patting down my hair a bit

"I know something you may want to know"

"Oh..?" I looked at her curiously

"You know the human girl you've been meeting with?" She eyed me even though I was a good three heads taller than her

"Yes..."

"She is your sister"

I stared at her in shock, the puzzle pieces finally fitting together. We were sisters.. That's why we have the same birthmark, skin.. And bracelet. I shot my head down to my wrist, looking down at it and its design. Was that why they were connected together; yet apart? I brought my head back up to thank the small Princess, only to find an empty space. I held my wrist to my chest, hugging it with my other hand. We were sisters.

"Thank you..." I mumbled, positive she could hear me.

I curled my knees up to my chest, resting my head on them. Everything made so much more sense... besides the part that Sasuke wanting to see me about something.. I took in a large breath, filling my lungs full of air, closing my eyes as I exhaled. I wasn't sure to feel over excited, or scared, but it was exciting... yet scary. I heard the same thumping on the ground as I had been for years; coming from the main castle guard.

"Sakura" his voice boomed as if he was attempting to wake me up, not that I was sleeping.

"Sir!" I called standing up glancing to my sides. Where were Karin and Sasuke?

"Karin and Sasuke have already departed; they wanted to go early." he looked at me cautiously. I guess that answered my question.

"You may go get your weapon" He spoke as I ran to get my spear which somehow now sat upright in its hold.

"You will be on river duty; I'm sure you know what to do by now" he gave me a small wink as I half smiled, half fringed. I don't think I've ever seen anything more terrifying.

"Sir" I called as I ran towards the large tree.

I ran towards the tree that was a landmark for the Kewolens; it signalized that they were close to the castle and village, directly in the middle between them. I took a breath as I slowed down, the roots of the tree now coming into sight meaning that I was only a couple meters away. I got to the tree that was now in full view, coming to a stop in the middle of my step. I almost wanted to cry at the sight in front of me.

"I was wondering what took you so long" Karin smirked, grinning evily.

Sasuke didn't write the note; he didn't even _see_ the note. Everything began clicking into place, making me feel dizzy from my flying thoughts which made sense all the same. My eyes began to tear up as I stared at Karin.

"Why the hell do you keep terrorizing me?!" I yelled running at her with my spear

"Girls." She calmly spoke as my hands and legs were suddenly caught by other arms, causing me to fall onto my face.

"Let go of me!" I yelled raising my head off the ground; my body now pinned down by the other girls

"Don't even try, hun." Karin spoke, now walking in my direction

"Lift her up" She commanded, throwing a clob dirt at my stomach

The girls simultaneously let go of me, now throwing their own dirt clobs at me, hitting my body all over. I stared at them all wide-eyed, my body now frozen, the tears running down my face like there was no tomorrow. I crouched down, to a position where I was sitting on the bottoms of my feet, hugging myself, the tears now running down my stockings. My body felt like it had become numb, no feeling, only coldness and sadness. I was so stupid for falling into this stupid trap; it had Karin's name written all over it. Why would Sasuke even think of loving me; yet sending me an apology letter of something that wasn't all his fault? I let out a sob, not even feeling the hits of the dirt that they threw at me anymore.

"Karin.. what are you doing?" Sasuke spoke, causing me to look up in my horrible state.

"Ah. Just the person I wanted to see" Karin smiled at him

His face was emotionless, as always. A new set of tears came out as he stared at me. He probably thought the same way that the girls did about me. Worthless.

"Hey you." Karin spoke as I looked in her direction; she was walking over to Sasuke.

She suddenly brought her lips onto Sasuke's, my eyes going wide. I could feel my heart pang agenst my chest with betrayal as a sob escaped my lips.

"You seriously didn't think you could ever be with Sasuke, did you?" she smirked, grabbing a hold of his hand.

My eyes flashed to their hands, and then back to her face.

"Hah! you actually did, didn't you? Don't be so naive. It would never workout for you; look at how different you are to us! I suggest you find someone else to love" she exclaimed as I stood up.

My face was pink from being wet with my tears, my eyes probably even redder. I stared at the ground for a couple seconds, slowly bringing my head up to face them. I could feel my tears run down my cheeks, drop after drop.

"I- I hate you all! I don't want to see any of you again!" I yelled, running in the direction of the bridge.

I felt like my heart had been stabbed over and over, torn out and stomped on. I let out a loud sob as I tripped on a root, letting out a small scream. Great. More mess for me to clean up. I stood up, dusting off myself from the dirt attacks that had hit me. I probably looked like a complete mess. I let out another sob as I slowly made my way to the bridge. Some team members they turned out to be.. I played the scene between Sasuke and Karin in my mind, another set of tears running down my face. I really was stupid for believing I could be with him, wasn't I?

I sniffled a couple times, now coming upon a small clear pond. I looked at my reflection; I honestly did look like a mess. I made a cup with my hands, splashing it on my face to get rid of the dirt stains. I rubbed my face, trying to push everything that happened out of my mind. I stood up, deciding that there was nothing more I could do to my appearance. The sun was just setting, meaning the bridge would be on the river any second. The bridge suddenly appeared as I was a few feet away from it, a person running across it, pulling me into a hug.

"What happened?" Tenten asked worried

"Remember the bitch I told you about? She found out I liked Sasuke and sent me a letter yesterday making it look like he sent it to me and wanted me to meet with him in the forest. So I went there and the bitch and her possy were there instead. They threw dirt and random crap at me... then Sasuke showed up, with no emotions as usual so I had no idea what he was thinking… Then she went over, making sure I was watching, and kissed Sasuke.. Then... then she told me how I would never be able to be with him cause of my race, and said I should try and fall in love with someone else.... now he knows." I let out a small sob as I replayed everything that happened a few hours or so ago.

Tenten held me tighter, making me feel so much better

"Is that why you look like you've just had a bat or something?" She asked.

"I was in a rush to get here, that's why I got a little bit dirty." I replied

"My day wasn't any better."

We let go of each other and I leaned against the bridge railing next to Tenten as she told her story

"Neji wanted me to meet with him in the castle garden, I did and he told me he loved me... then we kissed." Tenten's face went red at the memory. "But... but then he told me how I should compete to be his wife, and that he'd choose me... but it wouldn't work because of our race. His father probably wouldn't approve and Nymphs age slower after 35, so he'd be young when I die of old age." She took in a breath. "Then he told me how he'd find someone better and he'd forget about me.... maybe he didn't mean it but it crushed me... I don't think I can go back."

I nodded to her, understanding completely

"Me neither....."

It was silent for a bit. Tenten sighed.

"I wish you were my sister or something, it feels like I could tell you anything! Even things that I don't tell my friends." She laughed as I paused

I let out an awkward laugh. How ironic that statement was

"Funny you should say that because… we are sisters!" I exclaimed, temporarily forgetting about Sasuke and Karin

"H-How do you know that?!" she asked dumbfounded

"The princess told me... she's a lot smarter then her looks portray." I smiled at the thought.

"That's... amazing!"

"Yeah.. and...maybe since we can't go home, we should go to our real home, where we come from and were people like us are!" I spoke, getting more excited with every word

"I'd do it... but how the heck are we able to get back? It's as impossible as finding out how we got here!"

I put my hand to my chin. Thinking hard, trying to remember anything that Tsunade had told me when I was little about how I got here. I stuck my finger out as an idea came into my head

"I remember there being a story that Tsunade told me about! At the end of the river there's a path, and at some point in the path there is a house made of moss wood and flowers. There's a wise woman who lives there and she knows the answer to even the most impossible questions! Like.... how do you get back to the human world?"

"Let's go then." Tenten said, smiling.

I smiled back amazed at everything that was happening

"I knew you'd say that!"

I gave my travelers bag that I always had on me to Tenten, holding my spear in my hand. At least we had some protection from what ever came our way.

With that, we were on our way to go to our real home, where we belong.


	13. Chapter 13

Hey you guys~ Thanks so much for reviewing. It is really making my days. (:

I was reading through my own story, and I realized how awkward it is to keep switching between point of views, in different amounts of time. I'm not going to change the way the chapters are, because it is how it is, but I want you all to know what they go up in fours. So like; the first four are in Sakura's Pov, then the next four are in Tenten's Pov, so on and so forth switching between them. Thanks so much for reviewing all the time! I'll definetly make note at the end of the series thanking all who've been reviewing for me. Thanks so much you guys!

Chocolate chip cookies for you all!!

(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)!!!!!!!! 3

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Chapter 13

Tenten Pov

There was silence between all three of us. I didn't know what to do. Should I run? Should I be calm? Should I scream? I don't know... The Princess looked at me and then back at Sakura. The cats that were with her almost blended in with her black dress. She looked adorable, if it weren't for the fact she looked creepy as well.

"Come on Sakura, it's late. Tsunade is worried about you. Let's go home." She then took Sakura's hand and dragged her off.

She looked back at me before she disappeared into the dark forest. I sat there for a few more minutes, wondering if the princess was doing something terrible to Sakura or she actually didn't see me somehow. Then I heard a stick snap behind me. I turned quickly to see Neji standing not too far away. My face felt warmer.

"N-Neji! What are you-"

He held out his hand to me. I blushed even more as I took it and he helped me up.

"I-I was wondering where-"

"Who were you talking to?" he asked.

My blush went away and I looked up at him in fright. His eyes were narrow and he looked very angry. I've never seen him like this before.

"Myself. I kind of... go crazy. Since I've been under a lot of stress and I went out to clear my head... I came across this bridge too! I thought Abilene was being delusional when she told me about it, guess I was wrong... you can stop looking at me like that now please."

He let me go and gave me the sign to follow him. I couldn't tell what the matter was with him. We walked in silence for a bit, before I couldn't take it anymore.

"Why are you out here?" I asked.

"I had to clear my head too."

"... may I ask why your highness?"

He suddenly stopped and I crashed into him. He then dragged me over to the lake that wasn't too far off. I remembered that this was the place that Neji and I first met... and where we always went to play together. I smiled at the memory. Then we both sat down in our favorite place.

"My father is pressuring me with all this... king nonsense." he told me.

"Is it really that bad?"

He nodded.

"He's got teachers to teach me to fight, write, read, speak properly.... it's all.... stressful for me. He even said my wedding might be arranged if I decide to marry before I'm king.... before he's dead."

I felt my heart drop. I didn't show my hurt, so I tried to make him feel better.

"Well... you can learn so many great things! You'll be one of the smartest nymph kings! A-And you'll marry a beautiful woman who can be just as smart as you and you can live happily together-"

"You want me to marry a person I barely know?" He interrupted.

I looked back at him. His face showed complete shock.

"No! No that's not what I meant! I don't want you to marry some woman you don't even know, I just don't... don't want you to be sad and I was... trying to prove the positive points..." I explained.

Neji looked away from me. That did it for me. I felt the tears about to pour over.

"I-I'm sorry. I suppose I'm n-n-no real help." I quickly stood up and started to run off while yelling back to him, "It's really late, I need some sleep!"

I don't know if he ran after me or not. But my eyes were pouring waterfalls. I didn't look at Shikamaru, who had woken up at some point. He must have found out that I wasn't in my room. He just starred at me with wide eyes as I ran into my room, and cried my eyes out.

I couldn't fall asleep until the sun had shone through my curtains.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Tenten Pov

I woke up late. I didn't go outside or attempt to get out of bed. Shikamaru finally came in to check on me, what happened next didn't go over very well.

"I'm sorry" I mumbled.

"That's all you have to say?! You've stayed in here enough, it's time for you to get up and go out right now!"

He pulled the sheets off of me and threw my dress to me. I let a few tears fall.

"I-I don't-"

"You will! Or else you stay here and do the chores and take care of mom!"

"FINE! I'll do them just leave me alone you big jerk!" I yelled.

That wasn't meant to come out of my mouth. Either way Shikamaru had stormed out of the house. I sighed.

"Could this day get any worse?" I said to myself as I changed into my dress.  
I just had to say that didn't I?  
After an hour or so of giving Abilene her medicine and doing Shika's chores a knock came to the door. I went over and opened it to see Ino, glaring at me. She didn't look to happy. What had I done? We weren't meeting with her or Princess Hinata today were we? I don't remember making any plans. Either way, it's best to let Ino in your home when she gives you a mean look. She went over and sat in the chair, I joined her after I finished sweeping the dirt she dragged in with her shoes.

"What's wrong?" I asked as I sat down.

"Word is that you came home late last night." she said.

Is someone stalking me or something? Maybe Neji had told Hinata and Hinata had told Ino. But if that's so Hinata would have come along too.

"And this is important for you to tell me because...?"

"You went back to the dividing river didn't you?"

I shrugged.

"I did end up wandering a little. I was just stressed over some things yesterday and needed to walk around. I don't tend to pay attention when I'm trying to clear my mind." I explained.

"Is that so?"

"Is there something I missed for today that you're mad about?"

Before she said anything another knock came to the door. I looked at Ino and then went to answer it. Lord and behold, there was the Princess of the Nymphs, Hinata. I wanted to be relieved, but her face made me feel otherwise. She brushed past me and sat in the chair I was just in. Did Neji tell her something? I'm so confused.

"Want some tea?" I asked, closing the door again.

"Yes." they both said.

I went over and started to boil the water. As the tea was being made I could hear them whispering in the room. They had never been so... so... weird before. The tea had finished and I walked back into the room, placing the tea on the coffee table. The both took little sips before saying anything.

"Neji told me you were out near the river last night." said Hinata. "And that he upset you somehow."

"I just couldn't help him feel any better about being so.... I guess he already told you."

"No. He didn't tell me he felt this way. He only told you and as you tried to help he said one thing and you went off crying like a child before he could even explain himself. And here you are, doing chores and staying home as if the whole thing never happened. Maybe you don't care about my brother after all."

Even Ino looked shocked.

"Hinata, what have you been taking to think this up! He just sounded like he was annoyed with Tenten and of coarse she'd get upset because she was just trying to help him feel better and failed!"

Hinata seemed to have ignored Ino's reasoning and looked back at me.

"If you really care about my brother, you will apologize to him right now."

"B-But Hina I-"

"I don't care if you're mother is sick in bed! You come with me and apologize to my brother right-"

"Hinata shut up!" Ino shouted.

Hinata looked over at Ino, about to say something else. But then another knock came to the door. Why was everyone coming to my house today? I stood up and went to the door yet again. My face went warm and I was at a loss of words. This always happened when I first see Neji.

"H-Hi."

"Can we talk... alone?" he asked, nodding towards Ino and Hinata.

Ino took Hinata by the arm and brushed passed us both. By the looks of it she was going to give her a stern talking to. They closed the door behind them and I fell to my knees.

"I-I'm sorry I left! I should have let you talk to me more and I shouldn't have been talking like a fool! Please forgive me your highness!" I bowed to the floor, just in front of his feet.

"You know you're not suppose to bow to me Tenten." he said.

"It's how someone is to apologize to their Prince though, that's the first thing I was taught."

Suddenly I was picked up by the shoulders and he made me stand up straight. I knew I was blushing again.

"I'm the one who should apologize! You really did make things sound better I just... I just... didn't want you to know how much sense you were making."

I starred at him. What the heck?!... It couldn't be that he...

"You didn't want a human to be making sense of a nymph's problem?"

He shook his head.

"I didn't want you to know because I wanted you to think that you still had a chance with me!"

There was an awkward silence that followed. I couldn't believe my ears. Was this some sort of dream? Suddenly the door opened again, this time I saw Shikamaru's red mad face starring back at me.

"So I leave for an hour and you're here making goo goo eyes at the prince?! I can't let you do any work or caring without getting distracted!"

"N-No! I did all the chores and gave Abilene her medicine! I even brought her some food that she's still eating! You know that she eats slow now!"

He just shook his head.

"First you call me a jerk then you let your friends over when you're suppose to be watching mom! Why don't you even call her mom anymore?! Stupid human!"

And with that he hit me. I'm not sure where cause I can't exactly remember, but either way I fell to the floor. I was in so much pain that I was crying again. Soon after I ran out the door, not responding to any of the people who were yelling at me to come back. I didn't. I went to our lake, and by our I mean Neji and I. I washed my face, but from crying so much there were black bags under my eyes. Shikamaru hit me hard too. I rubbed it so it felt better, but it still looked kind of brown. I sighed. Why was today such a let down?  
Then I realized that it started to look orange and pink, like a sun set. I looked up to see indeed the sun was setting, so I had better get going to that spot. I hurried over, I really needed someone to talk with but at the same time I wanted to forget my problems. I decided that I would tell Sakura about it all tomorrow.  
The sun was almost gone when I saw Sakura. There was a boy Kewolen with her, so I hid behind a rock until he ran off somewhere. I quickly walked to Sakura, seeing as the bridge was already showing up. She smiled back at me and then looked around confused. Had she really not noticed that the guy had left? Odd.  
Soon enough though, we were standing in the same place as yesterday.

"Hi Tenten" Sakura said smiling

"Hello Sakura, beautiful circles" I joked, since I had the same ones.

"Jee. Thanks. Same goes to you" She glared at me and I just laughed.

"So how was your day?" She asked me, looking into the water yet again.

"My day was sorta shitty" I admitted.

I never use that word around anyone, only ever once with Neji and he laughed at me.

"Oh.. I'm sorry.. do you mind if I ask what happend?" She asked.

"I got into a fight with the Prince, and my friends got mad at me and just as Neji and I were making up my brother came in and hit me. It's kind of dark so you can't see it, but I have a big bruise." I chucked a rock into the river, making a "plop" noise as it landed.

"I'm sorry.. that must of sucked" Sakura patted my back a couple times

"No it's fine. I'll talk to them tomorrow about it" I said, now wanting to avoid this topic. "How about you?"

"Oh, mine was pretty good, compared to most days" she smiled and went off in her own little world.

"What happend?" I asked. Making a wild guess that the guy before had something to do with it.

"I told the girl who enjoys making fun of me off.. and I uh.. um.. got to watch the... sun set with the guy on my team.." She stuttered, getting a red face already.

"Was that the guy who I saw you stand next to a bit ago?"

"Yeah.." her smile looked like it could brighten up a house, along with that very red face she had.

"You two looked adorable" I said with a smile, showing her that I was happy for her.

"Thank you.. Though I doubt he likes me" she mumbled sticking her foot out of the side of the bridge

"You never know.." I said, thinking back to what Neji had said earlier.

Suddenly I heard footsteps coming on the bridge. I looked up to see it was the guy from before. I think my heart was hitting my ribs. I almost took a step back, but I ended up freezing in position. I was totally frightened.

"Tenten.. meet Sasuke. Sasuke.. meet Tenten" Sakura said.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Tenten Pov

Sasuke looked frightening so close. His scythe and his emotionless face was like something I'd only of heard in a book. I tried to swallow my fears in one big gulp, but it wasn't enough. I slowly took another step back and started to run. I didn't even turn when Sakura yelled at me to come back. I just hoped that she would understand.

_'Please be here tomorrow.' _

If I wanted anyone to hear my thoughts, that would have been it.

xoxoxoxoxox

I went back to the lake, feeling that was the only place I could go at this moment. I felt alone, I've never felt so lonely in a long time. It seemed as though my luck had changed. The only thing I did differently was meeting with Sakura, and I knew it wasn't her fault. I would not blame anybody for my feelings right now no matter how much I wanted to. I let out a sigh and put my finger in the water. Then I heard footsteps behind me. I thought for a moment that maybe it was Sakura or Neji, then I thought it could be Sasuke and I turned around quickly. It was only Naruto. A few tears fell from my face and I quickly whipped them away.

"What do you want?" I asked even though I knew.

"Taking you home." he said.

I shook my head stubbornly. He just sighed like he did in any situation. Naruto probably had to leave his love of his life to come and get me. I just looked out at the water.

"You know you'll catch a cold if you stay out here."

"I don't care." I muttered.

"But then that's to people to take care of!"

"Then don't take care of me!"

Chance sighed yet again and rubbed his forehead. I closed my eyes, waiting for something to happen, when it did I realized that I didn't have to. He just sat next to me and wrapped his arms around me.  
It was kinda weird since he never hugged me like this, not even when we were younger. It was always Ian who tried to comfort me and hugged me to keep me warm.

"Who are you and where's Chance?" I asked.

"Don't ruin the moment kid." I smiled at my "nickname" he cave me. "Shika was upset you hadn't come back yet, thought you ran away."

"Almost did. He gave me such a bad mark on my face... I didn't mean to make him mad..." More tears started to pour out yet again.

He held me tighter, which was both warming me up and comforting me.

"He's worried about mom. You know he's up late and taking care of us... stress makes us do stupid things remember?"

I did remember. That was what Mace and Abilene said must have drove my parents to leave me alone in the cold, cause they didn't want me to think that my parents just didn't care for me or want me. Then Mace was stressed because his own wife looked like she would die any minute, and went and left us to find the cure. Naruto was right, Shikamaru was just overworked.

"Ready to come back now?"

I slowly nodded.

xoxoxoxoxoxox

I ran into Shikamaru's arms. We were both sobbing like crazy. I told him how sorry I was, and that I would do more work with Abilene and around the house. He just held me like Naruto had when he was trying to warm me up. I felt so much better. I knew he didn't mean to hit me, he even gave me some cream to help it heal faster. I was about to go to bed, happy about how much the day had turned out. Then Shikamaru called me back into the kitchen.

"The Prince was angry with me for hitting you... he threatened to imprison me."

I gulped. I'd hate to be the cause of something like that.

"I'm sorry... I would find any way to get you out though." I admitted.

He smiled and kissed the top of my head. I was so happy that he and I were on brotherly and sisterly terms again. Naruto was sighing, obviously disgusted.

"That wasn't what I was talking about... he left a note for you."

I gently took the note from Shikamaru and walked to my room. After saying goodnight to my two brothers I opened the note quickly and read Neji's amazing handwriting.

_'Tenten_

Please, meet me in the castle garden tomorrow

-Neji'

I spent the whole night dreaming of what he wanted to see me for.


	16. Chapter 16

Hey everyone!

I wanna tell you how please I am with how much everyone is reviewing, it really means a lot. (: I know I was a bit slow in updating before, but I am updating much more and much quicker~. I hope you are enjoying the story like I am!

Just a note; I do not own these characters((No suing, PLEASE D:)), but this world is my own // my friends. Copyrighted by us!. ©!

heh heh heh.... C:

Enjoy!:

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Chapter 16

Tenten Pov

I felt tense yet relived this morning. I was so nervous but excited... I guess I was scarred of what to expect. Naruto was teasing me about the note all breakfast. He seemed to be back to normal. I did the chores Shikamaru had me do and I was off to the castle.  
The guards nodded at me to pass through. They must have remembered me from when I was younger or something. Neji had been so busy with things that I didn't come around as much, and Hinata was always sent out of the castle with friends nowadays. Nymphs really do have great memories, not like me. I couldn't even remember my fourth birthday. Must be a human trait or something. Hinata came up to me as soon as I stepped in.

"Come this way!" she said and started to drag me in the direction of the garden.

What happened to her being angry that I upset Neji not even a few days ago? Either way it was good to be on Hinata's good side again.

"I hope you're still not mad-"

"I over exaggerated. Being that I love my brother too much sometimes. I'm sorry to have hurt your feelings and I understand more now, thanks to Ino." I rolled my eyes and smiled, of course. "I hope this will make up for it!"

I thought a moment about what she meant. But before I could ask I saw Ino up ahead at the entrance to the garden talking with.. Shikamaru? Ha! I knew there was some chemistry between those two. She was giving us the 'Ino' smile, which meant that they had planned something, which meant that something big would happen. It always varied whether it was a good or bad thing. They literally pushed me into the garden. I looked back but they were gone, probably hiding behind something. I sighed.

"Tenten?"

I felt my face go as hot as fire. The way he said my name was so.... breath taking sometimes. I took a breath and my face cooled down a little. I turned to Neji with a smile on my face.

"Hi!"

He smiled back.

"I'm glad you could come."

"The pleasure is mine your majesty!"

Neji gave me a sour look.

"You know I hate it when you call me that. I've told you that ever since we became friends."

I walked up next to him with a smile.

"It's a sign of respect." I explained.

"Well, respect me by respecting my wish to not call me that."

We both smiled. I decided that this small talk should end, considering most times that Neji and I decide to hang out, he gets taken away.

"Alright... why did you want to meet with me?" I asked.

I saw his cheeks go a little pink. I've never seen a Nymph, make that any boy, blush! It was so interesting... and also made me have a good feeling inside.

"I... wanted to tell you something."

"Oh?" I asked, feeling my face get back to being red.

"Remember that time that you told me... you told me how you liked me because I was myself and not because I was the Prince and everyone had to like me?"

I did remember that. We were both six and he was angry because some other so called friends were hired by his father to play with him. I looked at his hand and held it in mine, nodding my answer.

"Uh... well that was..." I looked back at his face, seeing it was really red now. "That was when I found out my true feelings."

I felt my heart against my ribs.

"T-True feelings?"

He nodded, and we looked into each others eyes for what seemed like forever. Then he leaned in close and kissed me. I was blushing like crazy I'm sure, and I couldn't close my eyes like he did. I was too in shock. He broke it off and had a smile on his face, I tried to smile, because I truly was happy but also in too much shock.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

I shook my head.

"I'm just shocked you've felt the same way for so long."

Neji's smile just grew wider.

"This is great! Tenten, you should compete with the other women who my father set me up with! Hinata was aloud to have one of her friends compete too! And in the end it's my decision and I'd pick you! It's be perfect!"

I couldn't believe it! We were skipping the "Will you date me" thing and going ahead to "Will you marry me?". At least that's what it sounded like. I did want to spend my life with Neji, I did want to be his wife! I always have... that's when it hit me. My happiness and shock had gone and been replaced with sadness. Neji looked at my face, smiling.

"Are you shocked again?"

"I-I-It wouldn't w-work." I said, shaking my head.

The look he gave would have killed me if it could.

"What?!"

"We're different races Neji, it could never work. You're father probably wouldn't approve and... the Nymph girls would live with you longer."

Nymphs aged slowly after 35 years. For example, Abilene is almost 80 years old and looks only 30, maybe 40. Neji shook his head.

"I don't believe this..."

He let go of my hand, I forgot that we were holding hands in the first place. I gulped.

"I'm sorry but that's the truth."

"So you don't really love me?"

I gave him a shocked look.

"Huh?! I didn't say that!"

"But if you did love me so much, you would at least give it a try! But fine, I'll go get married to someone who actually does care for me! We can have a family and we can be happy together. I'd probably forget you soon after." He told me, sounding serious and as if he meant it deeply.

My heart broke. I started to walk backwards, not noticing much of anything that was happening now. All I could heat was Hinata and Ino yelling at Neji that he said the wrong things too much, or something like that. I then decided it was time to run, and I did. Too the one place that they wouldn't follow me.

xoxoxox

I had waited for the sun to set. I wanted the bridge to show up as soon as I got there. It wasn't fair! I messed up my one chance and I'm never going to get another one. Stupid stupid stupid.  
Sakura showed up as the sun was just about to go down. She was sort of dirty, but looked like she had washed herself up. Her eyes seemed very red, as if she had been crying for hours. Thankfully the bridge showed up just in time and I ran and hugged her.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Remember the bitch I told you about? She found out I liked Sasuke and sent me a letter yesterday making it look like he sent it to me and wanted me to meet with him in the forest. So I went there and Karin and her possy were there instead. They threw dirt and random crap at me... then Sasuke showed up, with no emotions as usual so I had no idea what he was thinking. Then Karin went over, making sure I was watching, and kissed Sasuke." My eyes widened, but her story wasn't done. "Then... then she told me how I would never be able to be with him cause of my race, and said I should try and fall in love with someone else.... now he knows."

I held her tightly.

"Is that why you look like you've just had a bat or something?" I asked.

She nodded and said, "I was in a rush to get here, that's why I got a little bit dirty."

"My day wasn't any better."

We let go of each other and I leaned against the bridge railing as I told her my story.

"Neji wanted me to meet with him in the castle garden, I did and he told me he loved me... then we kissed." I felt my face go red at the memory. "But... but then he told me how I should compete to be his wife, and that he'd choose me... but it wouldn't work because of our race. His father probably wouldn't approve and Nymphs age slower after 35, so he'd be young when I die of old age." I took in a breath. "Then he told me how he'd find someone better and he'd forget about me.... maybe he didn't mean it but it crushed me... I don't think I can go back."

She nodded to me, showing sympathy in her face.

"Me neither....."

It was silent for a bit. I sighed.

"I wish you were my sister or something, it feels like I could tell you anything! Even things that I don't tell my friends." I laughed.

Sakura laughed too, but it was kind of a nervous laugh.

"Funny you should say that cause we are sisters!"

I thought she was kidding.... but her eyes were telling me otherwise.

"H-How do you know that?!"

"The princess told me... she's a lot smarter then her looks portray."

So that must be why we have matching birthmarks! It wasn't just because we were human, we were related! Sisters no less!

"That's... amazing!"

"Yah.... and.... maybe since we can't go home, we should go to our real home, where we come from and were people like us are!" she said.

I thought about it for a moment. We would be able to find out our true heritage, we'd be able to maybe find our parents.... find out why they abandoned us maybe?

"I'd do it... but how the heck are we able to get back? It's as impossible as finding out how we got here!"

Sakura put her hand to her chin. Thinking hard, as if to remember how we got here when we were young. Damn human memories! Then an idea came to her head.

"I remember there being a story that Tsunade told me about! At the end of the river there's a path, and at some point in the path there is a house made of moss wood and flowers. There's a wise woman who lives there and she knows the answer to even the most impossible questions! Like.... how do you get back to the human world?"

I had heard that story too. Abilene said she asked her if she would ever find the man she loves, and after the wise woman said yes she met Mace. Mace had went to ask her if him and Abilene would ever have a girl, the woman said yes but that she would be different. That was the day he found me. He was on his way back when the storm hit and he heard me cry. It was amazing, and the sad thing is you can only ask one question if you ever meet her. Even if you say something wrong in your question, you never get a second shot at asking. But we had two shots, and it would be enough.

"Let's go then." I said, smiling.

She smiled too.

"I knew you'd say that!"

Next thing I knew I was holding a travelers bag and she had a spear in her hand. She really must be my sister.

With that, we were on our way to go to our real home, where we belong.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Sakura Pov

We began walking up stream, where the old lady was supposed to have been living for who knows how many years. I almost want to doubt that such a person exists, but the midnight bridge did exist.. so who am I to question it? I sighed as the sound of the river covered over our silence, the sky now fully black. My mind wondered off to Tsunade, she must be dead worried by now.. I inhaled and exhaled again. I want to go back to say good bye, yet it's much too late now. They must all know what Karin had done with Sasuke, and my secret that went with it. I glanced at Tenten; she looked really tired from the walking, and what must of happened earlier today. At least we were on the Nymph side of the river, so we were pretty safe.

"Hey Tenten" I called, interrupting the silence

"Yeah..?" she turned to look at me

"Let's stop here for the night" I walked over to a tree, sitting down against it

"Okay." she made her way over to the same tree I was now against

"What do you have in here?" she asked opening the bag

"I'm sure you guessed before, but it's mostly camping sort of gear, like blankets and what not" I mumbled, grabbing one out

"Why do you have those with you?" she wrapped her body under the same blanket I was under

I could feel my face turning pink.

"..I've been thinking of.. running away.. for a while" I mumbled thinking of the torments Karin had made me suffer through

"Oh.. That's lucky we have it then" Tenten wrapped the blanket tighter around her body

"Yup."

"I'll see you tomorrow then.." I stiffed a yawn, closing my eyes

"Until tomorrow." she spoke back, also giving a yawn

x o x o x o x o

I could feel the warm sun against my face, waking me up from my deep sleep. Thank god it was summer time, not winter or spring, other wise we would freeze over. I opened my eyes, blinking a few times as I looked to my right side; Tenten was still sleeping peacefully. I guess I was a bit early on the wake up time. I carefully got up, wrapping the blanket around her carefully to keep her warmer before I went to the river. It was like a habit for me to wash my face every morning, it really helped me to wake up my face and keep it clean. I took off my boots and stockings, walking into a small pond like area in the river, where the water was much shallower than usual. I walked in up to my knees, dipping my hands in to get a cup of water and splashing it on my face a couple times. The water was actually really clean and clear, much nicer than in most rivers or ponds that I've seen. I made another cup with my hands, this time drinking the water. It tasted even better than it looked. And water, to me, doesn't have a taste.

"Good morning" Tenten spoke as I turned around to face her

"Morning sleepy head" I laughed, splashing some water her way

"Do you even know how early it is?" she sat down on the edge of the river

I turned my attention to the sky

"Maybe one?" I asked looking back down at the water.

"Try eleven" she rolled her eyes

"Jee, sorry" I joked now attempting to catch a fish

I rolled up my sleeves, diving my hands into the water to catch the fish every couple seconds.

"What are you doing?" Tenten asked as she walked into the water, her own shoes taken off.

"Fishing" I mumbled, diving my hands into the water once again

"Is it fun?" She asked as if she wanted to join in with me

"Yeah! Join in!" I splashed some water in her direction as she took off her sandals that wrapped around her ankles

She carefully made her way into the water until she was standing next to the spot that I stood. She smiled at me as I smiled back bending down to catch the same fish that had been escaping my hands. Another fish swam by, Tenten now trying to catch that one. We spent the next little while fishing and laughing, I'm not too sure how long we must of spent jumping around in the river, but it certainly felt like hours.

"Look Saku! I caught one!" Tenten exclaimed as the fish in her hands squirmed around like it had gone insane

"Wow, awesome!" I smiled as I walked over to her side looking at the fish that was in her hands

"It's giant!" I commented as I touched its tail which felt oddly slimy

She let the fish go, as we made our way back to the land, the water was beginning to rise again. We walked fairly slowly out of the frigid water, step by step avoiding the larger rocks. A small dust of sparkles suddenly flew by, causing Tenten and I come to a stop. We looked at each other, then the direction that it went in. Nothing was there. We looked back at each other shrugging. I guess it might have been a figment of our imagination. We began walking back to the shore again.

"That was sorta weird" Tenten spoke as we were now up to our ankles in water

"Yes.. it was" I mumbled as I suddenly slipped on something, falling onto my bum in the river

"Sakura! Are you okay?" Tenten called, her too slipping into the water.

"Yes, I'm fine.. are you okay?" I asked now looking in the air.

The same small speckle of dust that flew past us before was now laughing like she had done the most hilarious thing in the world; push us into the river.

"Stupid fairy!" I yelled as it flew away, taking it's laughter of joy with it

"Well, this day is off to a pretty rough start.." I mumbled, climbing out of the water now soaked

"Indeed.. How do you suppose we dry off?" she asked her hair dripping as much as mine probably was

"We have to walk up stream, so we can just air dry as we walk" I grabbed my boots and stockings, heading back to the tree to get my bag

I grabbed my bag, passing it to Tenten to hold as I grabbed my spear, beginning to walk upstream once again. We walked for a couple more minutes as I looked down at my wrist, instantly remembering the bracelet that we both somehow had

"Hey Tenten"

"Yeah?"

"I don't know if you've noticed.. but we undoubtedly have the same bracelet on" I looked at her right wrist, then back at mine

"Yes, I noticed that when I first saw you" She looked at her own bracelet then at mine

"Woah. We really are sisters, aren't we?" We spoke at the same time, laughing

"Yup!"

"I wonder who's older." I asked playing with the bracelet

"Er.. I'm not sure" she replied, looking at me

"To be honest, we look the same age" she spoke inspecting my facial features

"Yes actually, we sorta do"

"Hmm.. Well this is rather difficult" I stopped, thinking about it

"Well, maybe we can ask the old lady, one of us can ask how we can get home, and the other can ask how we're sisters" She thought out loud as I nodded

"I guess we should hurry then" I spoke as I looked up at the sky, it was already somehow starting to set

"Sure" she smiled as we began walking again

The river came to an end, as it looked like it flew right out of the grass. The grass ran everywhere, but came to a stop where the river began, growing around it. Maybe it was an underground river past this point. We came to a stop as the darkness had taken over the sky, leaving us mostly blind.

"Say we stop for the night?" I asked going slightly into the forest to find a tree to sleep on again

"Sure" Tenten yawned and stretched out her arms

I pulled out the same blanket as the night before, wrapping it around Tenten and I. At least we were completely dry now from the stupid fairy who thought it was funny to push us in the water. I let out a grunt as I stood up, grabbing my boots and stockings which I forgot to put on sooner.

"Tenten I'll be right back, I'm putting my stockings and boots back on" I ran a bit deeper into the forest, taking off my shorts so I could put my tights back on and my boots once my shorts were on again.

I quickly made my way back to Tenten, looking at her sleeping form. I suppose she was still really tired from the last couple days. I got myself under the lone blanket, falling asleep as I leaned against the tree.

x o x o x o x o

I felt myself running quickly, running away from something, but I don't know what. All I knew was that I had to run from.. what ever was chasing me. I glanced behind my shoulder, to see if it was far enough away from me so I could catch a breather. I tripped on my left foot, slightly stumbling forward to hit the floor. I stuck my hands out ready to fall, but opened my eyes when I didn't go anywhere, but stayed in my falling position. I looked down at the creamy skinned arm that held me up, my face going pink. How did he find me?

Sasuke stood me up on my feet, I felt dumbfounded as if I didn't know what to believe, not that I had much of anything to believe in. I took a few steps away, looking at the ground. I felt my heart beat faster as Karin suddenly came into my head. If he was here, she must be here too? I glanced around the forest, seeing nothing but him and the trees.

"No, she's not here" he spoke taking a step towards me as I took a step back

"W- why are you here?" I asked still looking at the ground

"Because you ran away from home" I could feel my eyes now beginning to tear up

"That hell hole is not home" I mumbled glancing at his face then back at the ground

"Why do you keep looking at the ground?" he asked taking another step towards me

"no comment" I took a step back

"I'm not going to hurt you if I come closer" He took another step as I took another step back

"Does it matter?"

"Not really" he stopped walking, standing in the same spot

"Why don't you come back?"

"What's there to go back for?" I countered his question

"Tsunade and Shizune?"

"I doubt they wanted me in the first place, and besides everyone hated me" I shook my head as I rolled my eyes at the thought of Karin

"I hit Karin, just so you know" he spoke, as I looked up at him

"What? Why'd you do that?" I asked eying him, yet rejoicing inside

"We aren't going out and I knew you loved me before Karin yelled it out" I paused as my face turned red

"H- How did you know that?" I stared at him, my eyes flashing around the forest unsure where to look

"When ever you see me in your dreams.. I'm actually in your dreams" I stared at him wide-eyed as his comment

"You were in my dreams almost every night!?" I freaked out my voice getting higher as he nodded once

"Why the hell did you do that?" I yelled hitting my head

"Your dreams were interesting" he spoke his emotions still flat

"That's not funny Sasuke!" I yelled stomping on the ground

"I didn't say it was"

"So then are you saying this is a dream now?" I asked now looking at him

"Yes"

"I see.. Dammit Sasu." I kicked the air, signaling that the kick was for him.

"Sakura" he called my name as I looked up, he suddenly was right in front of me, looking down at me. I felt my stomach flop over and my face get redder

"Y-yes?" I asked trying to find my words

"Come back home" he lowered his voice

".. I can't, I have to stay with Tenten.." I replied looking into his yellow eyes

"Then there is something you should know" he brought his face closer to mine

"I love you" he whispered, pressing his lips onto mine


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Sakura Pov

I shot my eyes open, quickly waking up from my... dream, if that is what you can even call it. I put my fingers to my mouth remembering the kiss that Sasuke gave me, my face heating up. Did it even count as a kiss? And why did he kiss me now and not when he first found out? Why when I'm about to leave; when I very well wouldn't have if he had just told me that he loved me back!? So then is that the only reason he spoke to me? Because he knew I liked him and pitied me?

"Are you alright?" Tenten asked, now awake

I shrugged not wanting to talk about it

"The tree was hard to sleep on." I lied

I grabbed the blanket off of Tenten, shoving it into the bag now frustrated with Sasuke. He had no right to be in my dreams and learn everything about me! I chucked my bag at Tenten a little bit too hard, grabbing my spear, a few tears running down my face

"Let's go!" I commanded, wanting to get back to the human world _asap_.

I stormed away from the tree, walking a couple paces ahead of Tenten. Why did Sasuke have to tell now out of all times? Why not in one of my thousand dreams that he was in? It would have turned out so much better if he had just told me right from the start of when he knew, not much later when I was on my own self-exploration. The tears ran down my face and I didn't bother to wipe them away; only more would come running down.

"Sakura... can we rest a bit?" Tenten asked probably dragging behind me

I came to a stop, Tenten bumping into me from my sudden action.

"Mind telling me what's gotten into you?" she asked, maybe worried

I sighed once, turning to her. Tenten looked shocked, maybe at my appearance, which probably looked terrible as of this moment. I sniffled once, wiping away the tears

"I'm just... so confused and angry about this whole thing! Sasuke tells me he loves me in my dream, and it's actually him! It's always been him and not my imagination! He knew well before Karin announced it to everyone that I fell for him! Then I leave and that's when he decides to go into my dream and tell me that he loves me! The nerve of that emotionless bastard! He doesn't even know what love is, because he's an emotionless bloody bastard!" I screamed, letting my emotions out

Tenten held my bag in front of her, making me almost want to laugh. I let a few tears fall, lowering my head to face the ground as she hugged me. I feel so confused and lost; I don't know what to believe in anymore. I hardly know if I still want to go on this exploration thing about Tenten's and my real home, even though I knew the answer I wanted.

I took a few breaths, already feeling much better. I pulled myself out of the hug, starting to walk again.

"Let's not dilly dally!" I said, walking a head of Tenten again.

I had to get home.

x o x o x o x o

We ate a little bit of food when the sun was close to setting. I hope that finding the way home isn't going to take as long as finding the lady who could tell us how to get there. I could only hope that we would get there by tomorrow at least, we covered a lot of road today.

"How long did it take your adoptive dad to get there and back?" I asked, trying to figure out how far or close were to getting there

"A day.... he was a Nymph remember? He also wanted to be home on curfew, Abilene didn't like him being gone so much." Tenten explained

"... but didn't you say he left to go get her some medicine? How long has it been since he's been gone?"

"... Five months. Abilene told him to be back soon, but by the looks of things she could barely... remember him." Her voice sounded quieter with every word she spoke

There was silence. I don't know if it was me and my bad mood bringing everyone else down, but I'm sure I didn't help with it. I really miss Tsunade and Shizune.. it's not fair that I just ran away with a girl who've they've never met before; who is strangely enough my sister, yet it's too late now.. There's nothing I can do about it at this point. Maybe Sasuke would tell them where am I am.. Or what I'm doing and why I'm away from my foster home.

Suddenly we heard the tiniest scream coming from behind us. Tenten and I turned and saw a little speck of dust flying towards us. Not far behind her there were gremlins and crows chasing after her.

"Somebody save me!" we heard the little fairy yell.

I turned to Tenten

"Wasn't that the fairy that pulled a prank on us yesterday?"

"Yeeep." She confirmed

"... We going to help her?" I asked, almost rolling my eyes

"It would be wrong not to." She replied back

We nodded looking at each other. I grabbed her spear, running with Tenten to the flock of birds, gremlins, and the fairy that was being chased by them. At sight of my spear, mostly all the gremlins turned around running away. The crows were gaining on the little fairy, but before the crows could sink their claws into her, Tenten snatched her in her palms, immediately putting her clenched hands at her chest. I swung my spear at them, purposefully missing them to scare them off. They quickly flew off in another direction, leaving the fairy with us.

Tenten slowly opened her palm, revealing the fairy. She had a dress and hat made purely of flowers. She had short hair with eyes that were as blue as her wings. She was really cute, yet I somehow felt like flicking her off Tenten's hand and onto the ground.

"Y-You saved me! I swore that they were about to kill me! Thank you! Thank you to the both of you!" she said.

I stared down at the fairy, irritated.

"Aren't you forgetting something? You owe us an apology!"

The fairy looked at me as if I had gone, the realization finally hitting her.

"You two are the girls I slipped yesterday? I'm so sorry I was just.. .I didn't know you two were.... you're not from here are you?" she asked.

We shook our heads. She sighed.

"I'm terribly sorry! How can I make it up to you?"

"Show us the way to the wise woman!" we both said.

She paused, and then soon smiled.

"As long as I can come along with you!"

I was about to reject, but Tenten cut me off before I could open my mouth.

"You can! What's your name little fairy?" She asked.

"My names Petal. I kind of... lost my way home when I was young. Another group of fairies let me stay with them, but now I just wander around here pulling pranks."

"This better not be one of them." I mumbled turning away from them

The fairy frowned, but she understood the meaning behind that and flew to my shoulder.

"Just over that big hill! There's a large hut that is among a lot of bamboo tress! They have a stone with a seal stamped on and only the ones with pure hearts can pass the barrier they put up." the fairy explained.

I looked down at her, inspecting her face

"You sound like you've been there before."

"I was, I fly around here remember?"

"Sakura! If we run fast enough we can make it before sundown!"

"But Tenten, we've been walking all day! It's not like it's gunna go anywhere."

Suddenly we heard a loud booming sound from behind us. We both looked back to see that large black clouds were covering the painted sky. The rain was coming down just a bit away.

"Still wanna sleep out here?" asked Petal

I sighed, the fairy did had a point.

"Let's make a run for it!"

Tenten and I began sprinting, Petal sitting upon Tenten's shoulder. I could feel the rain drops beginning to fall, making a "pitter patter" sound as they hit the ground. Another loud boom erupted from the sky, making us run that much faster. Tenten was talking with Petal that kept asking all sorts of questions, keeping her voice to a low murmur. We reached the top of the hill, already drenched in rain water, Petal using Tenten's hair as a shelter. I rolled my eyes coming to a stop to catch out breaths

"Looks like you're not that much of a prankster!" I spoke looking down at the hut

There was a large dark hut surrounded with bamboo trees, that looked oddly used. I looked down at the hill, almost wanting to roll down it like a log. A loud boom echoed through the sky, causing Tenten to jump and slide down the hill. I yelled down after her, accidentally slipping down the hill myself. It was actually really fun. I almost wanted to do it again; but Tenten began walking forward towards the hut, as I followed her. We came to a stop in front of the stone that Petal had warned us about. Tenten took a breath, easily walking though it. I followed her lead, also walking through it quite easily.

"That was an exciting ride." noted Petal.

"_YOU_ have a good heart?!"

"For your information I was raised better then to prank strangers who were kind, I had no idea who you two were because you didn't look like any Nymphs. I was just protecting my home!"

"You need a smaller home." I mumbled

Tenten rolled her eyes, walking up to the door and knocking on it. The door creaked open as we carefully stepped inside. It was so warm and light; completely unlike outside,

"Anyone in here?" Tenten called out, her voice almost echoing

There was a short silence, as Petal seemed very scared. What was there to be scared of?

"Well well well, looks like the twins made it a bit earlier then I expected. Welcome to our home Sakura, Tenten and little Petal."

A chill went down my spine at the sight. There was a eye-less green skinned old lady in front of us.


	19. Chapter 19

Okay I thought I should tell you, I'm going to switch between the POV's of Sakura and Tenten quite a bit, so that they are at the same spot of the chapters. It'll be a bit confusing, I'm sure, but please hang in there with me! (: Thanks for reviewing everyone!

* * *

Tenten Pov

We began walking up stream, where the wise woman was supposed to have been living for who knows how many years. I was excited yet nervous about the whole thing. Was their even a way back? I suppose there had to be but could the wise woman really answer it? I sighed as the sound of the river covered over our silence, the sky now fully black. My mind wondered off to Abilene, Shikamaru, Naruto, Ino and Hinata. They had to be dead worried by now.. I inhaled and exhaled again. I wanted to go back to say good bye, but it was too late. They must all know about me refusing Neji's proposal by now. I yawned and rubbed my eyes, we had been walking for hours on end and what happened earlier today made me so tired. At least we were on the Nymph side of the river, so we were pretty much as safe as anyone could be.

"Hey Tenten" Sakura called, interrupting the silence

"Yeah..?" I said and turned to look at her.

"Let's stop here for the night" She walked over to a tree, sitting down agenst it.

"Okay." I made my way over and sat against it as well.

"What do you have in here?" I asked as I opened the bag.

"I'm sure you guessed before, but it's mostly camping sort of gear, like blankets and what not" She mumbled, grabbing one out of the bag.

"Why do you have those with you?" I asked her as I wrapped my body under the same blanket she was under

It looked as if her face was turning pink, but I couldn't be sure because it was very dark.

"..I've been thinking of.. running away.. for a while" She mumbled.

It must have been because of all the people that teased her. Poor Sakura, why did I get the good life?

"Oh.. That's lucky we have it then" I wrapped the blanket tighter around me.

"Yup.... I'll see you tomorrow then.." she said, yawning in the process.

"Until tomorrow." I spoke back, also yawning.

x o x o x o x o

I could feel the warm sun against my face, and the cool breeze of morning air around me. Thank god it was summer time, not winter or spring, other wise we would freeze over. I opened my eyes and then looked over to my side. Sakura wasn't there. I heard some water being splashed. I relaxed a bit, realizing she must have gone off to wash her face. I sat up and stretched out my arms. It was a beautiful day today indeed. I wondered how long I'd been sleeping since Sakura woke up. I decided it would be a good idea to go and find her. Before I could even brush off my dress I heard a rustle in the bush.

"Who's there?!" I said as I quickly turned around.

Maybe Sakura was playing a trick on me or something? I looked into the shaded forest to see a faint figure. I had no idea who is was until I heard the voice.

"Come here!"

"N-Neji?!"

He started to look like he was running off. I wondered if I was going crazy or something, but I ran after him. Sooner or later he came to a stop where there were no trees, just a patch of grass. Finally when I was close enough I could finally see him. It was Neji, but he wasn't there, and no I wasn't going crazy. He was using a technique to have a virtual image of him be able to go almost anywhere! Hinata told me about the magic cauldron that was able to do such a thing. It made him look like... a ghost.

"What are you doing here?" we both said at the same time.

I had the urge to laugh, but knew that it wasn't appropriate.

"I'm here to bring you back!" He said.

I gulped, having a feeling that was what brought him here.

"I'm not going back." I said.

"Yes you are! Look I know what I said upset you and I shouldn't have said it and I'm sorry! But I've found you off on some crazy adventure with a girl you barely know!"

"She's my sister...." I said, hoping that he would understand a little more.

"Funny, you never mentioned her."

"Well we just found out we were sisters! I didn't even know we were sisters until the Prince-" I stopped myself, knowing this wouldn't convince him. "Well when I first saw her across the river I knew she was human! Plus she and I have the same birthmark, that can't be coincidence!"

He looked angry now, since he now knows that Sakura came from the other side of the river. Great that's all I needed.

"Come home! Shikamaru's worried, Naruto is worried, Ino almost killed me to get you back and Hinata is standing next to me in the castle praying for your return!" Neji paused a moment and sighed. "I was worried too... so worried I almost let Ino kill me."

I paused. I was missed that much? I sighed.

"I'm not going back."

"Why?!" he yelled.

"Because! I don't belong with you! I want to go home, where I really belong! I want to know why my parents left Sakura and I in this world! I don't belong here and I never did!" I yelled back, also adding "Besides, when I'm gone everyone will move on like you said you would! Honestly Neji... i-if you really loved me you'd let me go and find my way home!"

He starred at me, looking angry maybe because I used his own words against him, confused maybe because he doesn't know his feeling anymore, sad probably because... I wasn't coming back. I sighed, and saw a tear roll down his face.  
I ran off before he could see any of mine.

xoxoxoxoxox

I soon found Sakura over in the river. She took off her stockings and boots and was now looking sort of... silly. I rubbed my eyes as I made my way over to her.

"Good morning" I spoke as Sakura turned around to face me.

"Morning sleepy head" She laughed, splashing some water at me.

"Do you even know how early it is?" I asked, trying not to show that I was crying.

She looked up to the sky

"Maybe one?" She guessed, looking back down at the water.

"Try eleven" I said as I rolled my eyes

"Jee, sorry" she joked now looking as if she was trying to get something in the water again.

She rolled up her sleeves and did the same thing yet again. I was so confused, was this something Kewolens had done when they went swimming? I took off my sandals and checked the water. It felt pretty warm.

"What are you doing?" I asked as I walked into the water, seeing that the water ended just at my knees.

"Fishing" she mumbled, diving her hands into the water once again.

Oh! I understand now, although I thought you would use a rod... well then again we didn't have one. Mace always took Shikamaru and Naruto out to fish, he left before I could ask to come along for once. I sighed.

"Is it fun?"

I wanted to join in, since Mace couldn't teach me I thought I could do him proud.

"Yeah! Join in!" Sakura said and then splashed some water in my direction as I made my way over.

We both smiled as she went to catch the same fish that had been escaping her hands. Another fish swam by, and I went after it immediately. We spent the next little while fishing and laughing, I'm not too sure how long we must of spent jumping around in the river, but it certainly felt like hours. It was so worth it though.

"Look Sakura! I caught one!" I exclaimed as the huge fish I had just caught squirmed around like it was dancing or having a horrible nightmare.

"Wow, awesome!" She smiled as she walked over to my side looking at the fish that was in my hands

"It's giant!" She said as I touched it's tail which felt oddly slimy

I smiled then let the fish go, it probably had to be on his way to his family and friends. As we made our way back to the land, the water was beginning to rise again. We walked fairly slowly out of the frigid water, step by step avoiding the larger rocks. A small dust of sparkles suddenly flew by, causing Sakura and I come to a stop. We looked at each other, then the direction that it went in. Nothing was there. We looked back at each other shrugging. I guess it might have been a figment of our imagination. We began walking back to the shore again.

"That was sorta weird" I said as we were now up to our ankles in water

"Yes.. it was" she mumbled as I suddenly slipped on something, falling onto my bum in the river. Sakura had fallen too, and now we were both soaked.

"Sakura! Are you okay?" I called.

"Yes, I'm fine.. are you okay?" she asked back to me, looking up.

I looked to where she was looking. The same small speckle of dust that flew past us before was now laughing like she had done the most hilarious thing in the world; push us into the river.

"Stupid fairy!" Sakura yelled as it flew away, taking it's laughter of joy with it.

Fairies were known to prank people. It used to be because people our size were too close to their nests. Now some fairies to it to make themselves amused, only to them though.

"Well, this day is off to a pretty rough start.." she mumbled, climbing out of the water now soaked.

"Indeed.. How do you suppose we dry off?" I asked as my hair was dripping as much as hers was.

I hopped maybe she had a towel in her nifty bag, but instead she said, "We have to walk up stream, so we can just air dry as we walk" she grabbed her boots and stockings, heading back to the tree to get the bag.

She came back and passed the bag to me as she got her spear, beginning to walk upstream once again. We walked for a couple more minutes in silence.

"Hey Tenten" Sakura spoke, breaking the silence.

"Yeah?"

"I don't know if you've noticed.. but we undoubtedly have the same bracelet on _and_ the same birthmark?" she looked at my right wrist, then back at hers.

"Yes, I noticed that when I first saw you" I looked at her own bracelet then at mine

"Woah. We really are sister's, arn't we?" We spoke at the same time, laughing

"Yup!"

"I wonder who's older?" she asked playing with the bracelet

"Er.. I'm not sure" I replied, looking at her, trying to see if there were any hints that could answer that question.

"To be honest, we look the same age" I said after a while of looking.

"Yes actually, we sorta do"

"Hmm.. Well this is rather difficult" she stopped, thinking about it

"Well, maybe we can ask the old lady, one of us can ask how we can get home, and the other can ask how we're sisters" I thought out loud as she nodded.

I actually wanted to ask why we were put in this world, abandoned by our parents. But if Sakura wanted to know who was older, I wouldn't mind.

"I guess we should hurry then" she said as she looked up at the sky, it was already somehow starting to set

"Sure" I smiled as we began walking again

The river came to an end, as it looked like it flew right out of the grass. The grass ran everywhere, but came to a stop where the river began, growing around it. Maybe it was an underground river past this point. We came to a stop as the darkness had taken over the sky, leaving us mostly blind.

"Say we stop for the night?" Sakura asked going slightly into the forest to find a tree to sleep on again

"Sure" I yawned and stretched out my arms

Sakura pulled out the same blanket as the night before, wrapping it around her and I. At least we were completely dry now from the evil fairy who thought it was funny to push us in the water. She let out a grunt as she stood up, grabbing her boots and stockings that she must have forgotten to put on sooner.

"Tenten I'll be right back, I'm putting my stockings and boots back on" She ran a bit deeper into the forest.

I yawned. Hopefully she wasn't going to take long. I rolled over and started to drift off to sleep, dreaming about all the people I was leaving behind. Including Mace, and he didn't even know I was gone.

I wish that I told Neji to tell everyone goodbye for me.


End file.
